Retailer Marks & Spencer witnessed its energy use fall by more than a third in the 2015/16 financial year, which it said testified to the significant progress of its Plan A initiative.
M&S reported its yearly financials this morning and announced that a total of 22 initiatives under Plan A had been completed within the year, amounting to what chief executive Steve Rowe said was “good progress”.
The high street retailer said that almost three-quarters (73%) of its products now had a “strong Plan A story to tell”, a significant increase on the figure from the last yearly reporting period where less than two-thirds (64%) complied with the group’s sustainability initiative.
Those projects have contributed towards a 39% fall in energy consumption over the course of 2015, and a 30% reduction in water use.
The company has also committed to ensure all raw materials used are from sustainable sources, and that M&S maintains carbon neutral and zero waste to landfill standards. Food waste fell 9% over the course of the year through the adoption of better sales forecasting, and more unsold food is now redistributed to charities and good causes.
M&S revealed that a record number of its regular customers were engaged with the Plan A initiative too, citing the fact that 90% of its ‘Sparks’ card holders had chosen a charity to support through the loyalty scheme.
The results echoed sentiments expressed by both M&S’ Mike Barry and IKEA’s Joanna Yarrow at last month’s Clean Energy Summit that customers had become more engaged with sustainability and now expected their stores of choice to be more efficient in their operations.
M&S launched Plan A in 2007 as a means of increasing the sustainability of its business, intending to “move away from CSR, towards a more holistic approach” to address a wide range of sustainable issues.
A follow-up initiative – Plan A 2020 – was launched in 2014 and comprised 100 new and revised commitments.
