M&S 'to be greenest retailer' by 2015

Marks & Spencer has announced its intention to be the world's most sustainable retailer by 2015, adding 80 new pledges to its existing ethical plan.

The high street icon says that its updated commitments will lead to all of its products featuring at least one sustainable quality - conforming to its Plan A "eco and ethical" programme - by the end of the decade.

Launched in January 2007, the ambitious £200 million Plan A set out 100 commitments designed to make the retailer carbon-neutral by 2012. The retailer also pledged that it would send no waste to landfill by this date, undertook to extend its sustainable sourcing, said it would "set new standards in ethical trading" and that it would "help customers and employees live a healthier lifestyle".

The group now adds the more ambitious goal of helping customers and staff to "live greener lifestyles". It says that its new objective to "embed" sustainability into the way it does business would see every one of 2.7 billion individual items sold each year across 36,000 product lines holding at least one sustainable or ethical attribute - for example, carrying the Fairtrade mark, or using free-range ingredients.

Marks & Spencer has also announced a competition for customers to suggest "green actions" for it to adopt - with the winner receiving £100,000 to spend on "greening" an organisation.

Consumer demands

The group acknowledges that part of the reason for the drive is that environmental and ethical issues remain important to UK consumers. A survey commissioned by the company found that 72% of people are concerned about environmental issues -with the majority saying that their views had not been changed by the recession.

Chairman Stuart Rose said: "We believe sustainability is a key ingredient of business success and that Plan A will continue to make us more efficient, develop new markets and build customer loyalty.

"It's therefore not just the right thing to do morally but also makes strong commercial sense."

And it is a message to which retailers - both big and small - seem to be listening.

A joint report by Abbey and Alliance and Leicester, released in November last year, found that while the up-front cost of 'going green' is often significant, firms were prepared to meet this in order to reap the benefits of lower running costs and a reduced carbon footprint.

With shoppers starting to consider green factors when choosing where to spend their money, there is a range of things businesses can do to give themselves an edge. Research by the Association of Convenience Stores has shown that the customers of small shops would support retailers who charged for plastic bags - a move that can reduce costs and help the environment.

And simple measures such as switching to energy-saving light bulbs, re-using packaging or fitting plastic curtains to open-fronted chilled displays all reduce emissions and deliver savings.

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IMAGE: Andrew Parsons/PA Archive/Press Association Images