Our Plan A Commitments 2010-2015
Marks and Spencer Group plc Our Plan A Commitments 2010-2015 What s in this report Our Plan A Commitments 2010-2015 What s in this report? Section 1: Introduction If you re looking for a broad overview of the next stage in our Plan A journey look at the introduction section: Message from Sir Stuart Rose Building on our progress with bold new targets Comment by Jonathon Porritt, Founder Director, Forum for the Future Section 2: Plan A Summary If you want to know more about our plans to involve our customers in Plan A, make Plan A how we do business and extend our social and environmental commitments look at the Plan A Summary section: Involving our customers. Making Plan A how we do business. Extending our social and environmental commitments across the 5 Plan A Pillars: - Climate change - Waste - Natural resources - Fair partnership - Health and wellbeing Section 3: Our new and existing Plan A commitments If you want the full list of our Plan A commitments look in this section. Where we make Plan A commitments to do with our customers, employees, stores and offices these relate to our UK and Irish operations unless specifically stated. Our product and supply chain commitments apply wherever in the world we sell Marks & Spencer products. 2
Becoming the world s most sustainable major retailer by 2015 Sir Stuart Rose, Executive Chairman We launched Plan A in January 2007 committing to change 100 things over five years because we ve only got one world and time is running out. Three years on, Plan A is making a real difference to the environment and to our business. But now is the time for us to reach further and be even bolder by committing to a target to become the world s most sustainable major retailer by 2015. Introduction Thanks to Plan A we ve developed new products and services to help our customers live more environmentally friendly lives, made a bigger contribution to local communities, engaged our employees and saved 50m this year. We ve also played a very public role in stating that sustainability is a key ingredient of business success. We ve already met 45 of our original 100 Plan A commitments and we re confident we will achieve the rest. The journey hasn t always been easy and we ve made some mistakes. But we ve been sincere in our intent, learnt many lessons and improved our understanding of the challenges we face to become a more sustainable business. Now we re starting the next stage of our Plan A journey, setting ourselves an ambitious goal to become the world s most sustainable major retailer by 2015. By extending Plan A we will reach further, move forward faster and challenge ourselves to be even bolder. It will allow us to make a far greater positive impact on the environment, our customers lives and the communities in which we operate. We believe it will also make us a stronger and more successful business. If we re serious about becoming the world s most sustainable major retailer, we must take a holistic approach to sustainability focusing on involving our customers in Plan A, making Plan A how we do business and extending our existing social and environmental commitments. Involving all of our customers in Plan A We aim to engage all of our 21 million customers with Plan A. Our new commitments will mean Plan A is built into every one of the 2.7 billion individual Marks & Spencer products our customers buy from us each year. We also aim to help 3 million of them develop their own personal Plan A by 2020. Despite the recession, our customers are still concerned about social and environmental issues, but believe that business and government need to do the heavy lifting by taking the lead, driving change and making it easy for them to get involved when they can make a difference. Making Plan A how we do business We will also accelerate the transition of Plan A from a plan to how we do business by engaging our people and giving them the skills and tools required to make a difference, by integrating Plan A into all of our processes and systems and by investing in sustainable innovation. Extending our social and environmental commitments across the 5 Pillars We ve always looked beyond specific issues, such as energy and packaging to consider all aspects of sustainability Climate change, Waste, Natural resources, Fair partnership and Health and wellbeing but we are now setting new tougher commitments, stretching to 2015. In total we are adding 80 new commitments to the original 100 launched three years ago and extending a number of the existing commitments. We ve always said that we can t make Plan A work alone and this is still the case. That s why we ll continue to work in partnership with suppliers, NGOs, the science community, governments and other businesses to deliver the innovation and changes needed to make sustainability a reality. We know that our target to be the world s most sustainable major retailer by 2015 is an ambitious one, but we re committed to achieving it. Plan A has been commercially successful for us. We believe greater ambition will be matched by greater commercial return. We ve a lot already but building a sustainable business is a long journey and we look forward to your help and support in doing the right thing. The challenge is set for the next phase of our Plan A journey. Sir Stuart Rose Plan A summary Our new and existing Plan A commitments 3
Marks and Spencer Group plc Our Plan A Commitments 2010-2015 Section 1 - Introduction Building on our progress with bold new targets Richard Gillies, Director Plan A, CSR and Sustainable Business Since its launch in January 2007, we ve made great progress on our five Plan A pillars Climate change, Waste, Natural resources, Fair partnership and Health and wellbeing meeting 45 of our original 100 commitments*. It s time now to push ahead with bold new targets, delivering greater sustainability across our business, extending our targets across our supply base and involving customers much more. 400m food carrier bags saved per year Plan A today In the last three years, thanks to Plan A, we ve made a number of groundbreaking innovations that have changed the way we do business: We ve motivated one million M&S customers to raise over 2.2m for Oxfam and saved 4 million items of unwanted clothes from going to landfill. We ve improved energy efficiency by over 10% in our stores. We ve reduced packaging on our foods by 16%, without compromising freshness, quality or shelf life and cut costs in the process. We ve improved fuel efficiency by over 20% and introduced our instantly recognizable tear drop aerodynamic lorry trailers. We ve made clothes hanger recycling mainstream with 120 million re-used or recycled each year. We ve reduced the number of food carrier bags we give out by 400 million each year. We ve purchased GreenPalm Certificates to cover all of the palm oil used in our M&S products. By doing this we are rewarding palm oil producers for working in a sustainable and responsible way. * A full update on our progress will be available in June 2010 with the release of our annual How we do Business Report. 100% of the palm oil we use covered by GreenPalm Certificate 241 new aerodynamic trailers 4
Forward thinking projects like these, working with our partners and the emerging science have taught us some important lessons about why we need to move Plan A forward. We ve learnt that: Introduction 50m surplus from Plan A in 2009/2010 The evidence of environmental harm and social inequality is growing. Customers are aware of their personal impact on the world and ready to take action but most expect us to take a lead and make it relevant to their everyday lives. Our own people are the key to prompting our customers and suppliers to take action. Plan A solutions don t have to cost more. Indeed there is a compelling business case that results from eco-efficiency, opening up new markets and encouraging innovation. In total creating a 50m surplus for us this year. Plan A for tomorrow Whilst we will continue to deliver the commitments we set in 2007, these lessons have convinced us that the time is right to extend our ambition beyond our original 2012 deadline with bold new targets to 2015 and beyond. In doing so, we are setting ourselves an ambitious goal to be the world s most sustainable major retailer by 2015. We respect the work other companies in our sector are doing, and accept that we have no monopoly on commitment or action. We will collaborate to help tackle the pressing social and environmental challenges facing the world today but, we believe that setting such a bold goal puts down a marker and demonstrates the scale of our ambition and commitment. It will also drive us toward delivering new and innovative solutions to the challenges we face. Making our business more sustainable Plan A summary Our new and existing Plan A commitments Business sustainability A business that is carbon positive, wastes nothing, restores the natural environment and improves peoples lives. Apply Plan A principles to every one of the 2.7 billion M&S items we sell, 1000 s of factories and 10,000 s of farms. Enabling all 21m customers to get engaged supported by 80 additional commitments to add to the existing 100. 100 commitments, strong business case emerges, lessons learnt on greening stores, factories and farms. Plan A 2010-15 Sustainable Business 2015-30 Single issues managed by team on edge of business. Plan A Philanthropy 1980s Community Investment 1990s CSR 2000s From single issues to integrated plan to tackle all issues Making Plan A How We Do Business business model evolves Key barriers to progress Time We are on a journey to make our business more sustainable. Over the decades we ve never stood still; moving from philanthropy to community investment and then corporate social responsibility (CSR). In 2007, Plan A was a radical commitment to move from the CSR world s focus on specific issues to a more holistic approach that tackled all sustainability issues. With our new Plan A commitments, focused on involving our customers and making Plan A how we do business, we are putting in place the long term foundations to build a sustainable business. 5
Marks and Spencer Group plc Our Plan A Commitments 2010-2015 Section 1 - Introduction Building on our progress with bold new targets Our definition of sector leadership on sustainable business, is based on asking ourselves the following questions: Have we involved our customers by ensuring that all of our M&S products have a Plan A quality? Have we made Plan A how we and our suppliers do business? Have we ensured Plan A has the breadth required to tackle all the sustainability issues relevant to our business? We will continue to work with our partners to further define what a sustainable business is, a business that is ultimately carbon positive, wastes nothing, restores the natural environment and improves peoples lives. 200 Plan A factories Plan A is about systematically making every aspect of our business, our supply chain and customer use and disposal of our products more sustainable. M&S Business of the Future Logistics 35% more efficient All vulnerable raw materials on sustainability programme (wood, cotton, fish, palm oil, soya, cocoa, coffee, tea) 200 Plan A factories by 2015 500,000 workers receiving training 100 clothing warehouses to 4, 35% more efficient All 10,000 farms producing fresh meat, dairy, produce and flowers engaged in Sustainable Agricultural Programme by 2012 35% reduction in energy use, refrigeration carbon footprint down 50% Making a difference to local, national and international communities 100,000 prize for green ideas 21m customers buying 2.7billion M&S items all with at least one Plan A quality Constant Plan A marketing to encourage customers to take action 3m customers creating their own My Plan A We have re-set many of our existing targets to deliver more and introduced a range of new ones. These commitments affect every part of our business, from forest or farm to factory, lorry, warehouse, store and ultimately our customer s home. 6
Building on our progress with bold new targets 2.7billion Plan A products 50m Plan A innovation fund The most important new commitments are Involving our customers We plan to bring Plan A into the core of what we do, helping customers to live more sustainably. We will: Make sure that all of the 2.7 billion individual M&S products we sell each year have at least one Plan A quality by 2020. Help 1 million customers to create their own personal Plan A by 2015 and 3 million by 2020. Run a continuous programme of Plan A marketing communications, to encourage customers to take action. Making Plan A how we do business We want to accelerate moves to make Plan A how we do business part of the Marks & Spencer DNA. To support this aim, we re going to: Launch a 5-year, 50 million Plan A innovation fund to support new ideas in our business. Help our suppliers create 200 Plan A factories and 10,000 farmers join our Sustainable Agriculture Programme. Introduction Plan A summary Our new and existing Plan A commitments Free home insulation for 30,000 eligible employees Our people are key to making Plan A how we do business. We want to involve all of our employees in Plan A and help them share information about doing this with family, friends and M&S customers. That s why we re going to: Offer all our eligible employees free home insulation and a home energy monitor. Give all our employees one paid day s leave every year to do volunteer work in the communities where they and our customer s live. 7
Marks and Spencer Group plc Our Plan A Commitments 2010-2015 Section 1 - Introduction Building on our progress with bold new targets Extending our social and environmental commitments across the five Pillars One of the strengths of Plan A is its breadth, the sheer number of sustainability issues we re tackling. We re now making a number of new commitments to help us improve our sustainability performance and extending some commitments from their initial 2012 targets. Across the five Pillars the key commitments are: Carbon neutral operations by 2012 Climate change Remain committed to making our UK and Irish operations carbon neutral by 2012 and reduce our energy use 35% per square foot by 2015. Recycling 20million garments per year Waste Send no operational and construction waste to landfill and increase clothes recycling from 2 million items a year to 20 million. Natural resources Ensure vulnerable raw materials come from sources that don t contribute to deforestation. Paying a fair living wage to workers in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka Fair partnership Help our clothing suppliers to pay a fair living wage starting in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. Health and Wellbeing Promote active lifestyles for our customers and employees. 8
Plan A has made an enormous difference to our business in the last three years. It s helped us respond to the growing numbers of customers who expect business to lead on social and environmental issues. It s motivated our employees and involved them in the communities where they and our customers live. It s helped us reduce our costs and it s helped us develop new markets such as energy and insulation. Introduction By setting a bold goal to be the world s most sustainable major retailer we believe we re doing the right thing for the planet and the right thing for our business. Richard Gillies, Director Plan A, CSR and Sustainable Business Plan A summary Our new and existing Plan A commitments Three years on, Plan A has become an undisputed market leader in terms of corporate sustainability initiatives. Through it, M&S is addressing the right things, in the right way, to secure critically important outcomes. Forum for the Future is delighted to see how that momentum is being maintained, and the intense focus this time round on helping M&S customers undertake their own Plan A is hugely encouraging. It s not just progress against all the specific actions that matter, but the way in which M&S is transforming its core business model through Plan A. Jonathon Porritt Founder Director, Forum For The Future 9
Marks and Spencer Group plc Our Plan A Commitments 2010-2015 Section 2 - Plan A summary Section 2 Plan A Summary Becoming the most sustainable major retailer in the world by 2015 10
Introduction Our Plan A themes and objectives Involve our customers in Plan A Aim for all our M&S products to have at least one Plan A quality by 2020 1 (50% by 2015) and help our customers identify and buy these products Help our customers make a difference to the social and environmental causes 2 that matter to them 3 Help our customers live a more sustainable life Make Plan A how we do business 4 Engage our employees in Plan A 5 Integrate Plan A into our systems and processes 6 Build Plan A into every aspect of our construction programme 7 Engage our business partners in Plan A 8 Create a culture of innovation on sustainability Extend our social and environmental commitments across the 5 Pillars of Plan A Climate change 9 Help our customers cut their carbon footprint Reduce our operational carbon emissions by 35% and make our operations 10 carbon neutral 11 Help our suppliers cut their carbon footprint Waste Create partnerships to help our customers reuse or recycle all our products 12 and packaging Send no operational and construction waste to landfill and reduce our 13 operational waste by 25% and construction waste by 50% 14 Help our suppliers to reduce waste and send no waste to landfill Natural resources 15 Ensure efficient use of natural resources in our operations 16 Reduce the impact on the natural resources used to make our products Fair partnership 17 Ensure workforces and communities benefit in our supply chain Health and wellbeing 18 Drive health and nutrition benefits across our product offer 19 Help to facilitate behaviour change through clear nutrition labelling and information 20 Encourage our customers and employees to become more active Plan A summary Our new and existing Plan A commitments 11
12 Marks and Spencer Group plc Our Plan A Commitments 2010-2015 Section 2 - Plan A summary
Introduction Plan A summary Our new and existing Plan A commitments How we will involve our customers in Plan A To build a sustainable business we need to involve our 21 million customers in making Plan A happen. Our vision is to involve every one of them in Plan A through the products they buy from us, by enabling them to make a difference to the community and by providing information on how they can live more sustainable lives. 13
Marks and Spencer Group plc Our Plan A Commitments 2010-2015 Section 2 - Plan A summary How we will involve our customers in Plan A To involve our customers in Plan A we re setting three key objectives: or 1 2 Aim for all our M&S products to have at least one Plan A quality by 2020 (50% by 2015) and help our customers identify and buy these products Help our customers make a difference to the social and environmental causes that matter to them 3 Help our customers live a more sustainable life Objective 1 Aim for all our M&S products to have at least one Plan A quality by 2020 (50% by 2015) and help our customers identify and buy these products As a retailer, our impact on society and the environment is primarily associated with the manufacture, use and disposal of the 2.7 billion individual M&S items we sell every year. By 2020, we want every M&S product to have at least one significant Plan A quality and to meet an intermediate target of 50% by 2015. While this commitment is demanding, we re not claiming that all of our products will be fully sustainable by 2020, but it is a bold statement of intent that will drive systemic change in the way we develop all our products ensuring social and environmental principles are always taken into consideration. In most cases, a Plan A quality will be a well recognised external environmental and social standard. For example, fish products from a Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) source, products made from Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood, and Fairtrade cotton T-shirts will all have a Plan A quality. We also believe that sustainability achievements related to issues that are not currently accredited by an external third party for example, a clothing factory paying a fair living wage may also merit the term Plan A quality. At the same time, we know that qualities not linked to external standards will demand scrutiny. That s why we ll be discussing ways to define Plan A qualities with our key stakeholders this year. 14
700 work placements for people facing major barriers to work Raising 15m each year to fight cancer, tackle poverty and protect the environment Objective 2 Help our customers make a difference to the social and environmental causes that matter to them Together with our employees and customers, we ve always made a significant contribution to the community and to help disadvantaged groups. We ll maintain this high level of commitment, focusing particularly on: Health and wellbeing fighting cancer is an issue that s very important to our customers and employees and we ll continue our work with Prostate Cancer and Breakthrough Breast Cancer in the UK and the Marie Keating Foundation in the Republic of Ireland. Poverty and exclusion poverty remains a challenge in the UK and overseas. We ll build on our work with Shelter on homelessness in the UK and Oxfam overseas and continue to offer at least 700 Marks & Start placements every year for people facing particular barriers to work in the UK and overseas. Environmental protection environmental protection and regeneration underpin healthy and sustainable communities. We ll continue to work with Groundwork to regenerate green spaces in local communities and with Butterfly Conservation to protect natural landscapes and biodiversity across the British Isles. We ll also maintain our support for WWF s work to conserve and restore some of the most vulnerable ecosystems in the world. We re setting a target to raise 15million every year for these three causes by working with our stores creating cause related marketing relationships for our products and by our employees volunteering in the community. Objective 3 - Help our customers live more sustainable lives Introduction Plan A summary Our new and existing Plan A commitments Customer engagement will take many forms ranging from helping customers to create their own personal Plan A, to constant positive marketing and encouraging customers to offer their own ideas on Plan A. We will: 3million customers developing their own Plan A Launch a new website next year to help 1 million of our customers create their own My Plan A by 2015, and a further 2 million by 2020. Encourage people to act differently via a continuous programme of Plan A marketing communications. This programme will build upon previous campaigns that tackled successfully major social issues such as road safety and the dangers of smoking. Create a 100,000 Your Green Idea prize for the individual or group who comes up with the best idea to help us green our business. 100,000 prize for Your Green Idea 15
16 Marks and Spencer Group plc Our Plan A Commitments 2010-2015 Section 2 - Plan A summary
Introduction Plan A summary Our new and existing Plan A commitments How we will make Plan A how we do business We want to make Plan A how we do business: How we train and reward our people; how we run our business systems; and how we innovate to create new products and services. As part of the same process, we also want to help our employees live sustainable lives and support their communities. 17
Marks and Spencer Group plc Our Plan A Commitments 2010-2015 Section 2 - Plan A summary How we will make Plan A how we do business Over the last three years we have been turning Plan A from a plan into how we do business. We have made good progress. In the next phase of Plan A we will: 4 Engage our employees in Plan A 5 Integrate Plan A into our systems and processes 6 Build Plan A into every aspect of our construction programme 7 Engage our business partners in Plan A 8 Create a culture of innovation on sustainability Every employee given 1 Day to volunteer in the community Objective 4 - Engage our employees in Plan A We want to attract and retain the best people in retail. We ve seen benefits in motivation and morale from employee participation in Plan A. We also know new joiners increasingly cite Plan A as a key reason for joining Marks & Spencer. We already have Plan A champions in all our stores and offices and we ve been training relevant employees in responsible buying skills. Now we want to engage our employees in a new way, by encouraging them to volunteer in the community and offering them free home insulation. We believe this will benefit them directly and also make it easier for them to engage with Plan A in every aspect of their job. Objective 5 Integrate Plan A into our systems and processes A number of key changes will enable us to fully integrate Plan A into business processes. These include: making successful delivery of Plan A part of the bonus plan for our Management Board; introducing an internal price of carbon; reporting on the financial business case for Plan A; and integrating Plan A into our wider Business Foundation Programme, which is overhauling many of our day-to-day processes and operating systems. Objective 6 Build Plan A into every aspect of our construction programme Each member of the Management Board has a Plan A objective We ve made major strides to address environmental performance in the construction, refurbishment and operation of our stores, offices and warehouses. We re now extending our efforts to integrate sustainability into key systems that we use for project assessment. For example, whole life costing and continuous evaluation of the Plan A performance of new stores and major refurbishments to identify the scope for further improvements. We ll build on the success of our initial 3 eco stores, where we ran fast-track trials of many different new technologies, by developing a number of learning stores over the next 5 years to improve our understanding of sustainable 2 new eco-learning stores every year 18
construction. This process is intended to show us how to create a store that: Has zero embodied carbon in construction. Is made from 100% recycled material. Is 100% recyclable when refurbished or no longer needed. Has a net positive biodiversity impact. Is resilient to climate change. Brings new benefits to the communities we serve. Introduction 100% of food factories engaged in the sustainability programme Objective 7 Engage our business partners in Plan A We ve been working with our business partners to develop best practices through work in pilot eco-factories. We ve taken these best practices and turned them into a set of factory and farm sustainability standards that we are now going to drive across thousands of farms and factories in our supply chain. These standards are vital. They will make Plan A how our suppliers do business too. This set of standards will include: All of our food suppliers will be covered by a balanced performance scorecard that includes social and environmental issues as well as lean manufacturing, with 25% of them achieving the very highest (Gold) performance standard by 2015. All 10,000 farmers who supply us with fresh meat, dairy, produce and flowers will be part of our Sustainable Agriculture Programme by 2012. By 2015 we will also have engaged in the Programme the many thousands of farmers that supply us with agricultural ingredients used to produce our food. In partnership with our general merchandise suppliers we ll focus on making social and environmental improvements in our top 100 clothing factories. We ll also work to extend our sector leading traceability standards to include all aspects of the supply chain down to the source of the raw materials used in our general merchandise goods. Plan A summary Our new and existing Plan A commitments 10,000 farmers engaged in Sustainable Agriculture Programme We are also working closely with our franchise partners to help them adopt relevant parts of Plan A. for their businesses. Objective 8 Create a culture of innovation on sustainability We will not become a significantly more sustainable business using today s solutions. To transform our business we must innovate. Our innovation drive will focus on creating a 50m innovation fund to be spent over the next 5 years that will help us make step changes in our sustainability performance and work with external partners to define what makes a long-term sustainable business model. 50m Plan A innovation fund 19
20 Marks and Spencer Group plc Our Plan A Commitments 2010-2015 Section 2 - Plan A summary
Introduction Plan A summary Our new and existing Plan A commitments Extending our social and environmental commitments across the 5 Plan A pillars At its heart, Plan A is a commitment to make our business demonstratively more sustainable across every social and environmental issue relevant to a major retailer in the 21st Century. The next stage of our journey will involve us making further improvements in our performance right across our existing 5 Plan A pillars Climate change, Waste, Natural resources, Fair partnership and Health and wellbeing. 21
Marks and Spencer Group plc Our Plan A Commitments 2010-2015 Section 2 - Plan A summary Extending our social and environmental commitments across the 5 Plan A pillars Climate change Extend our social and environmental commitments across the 5 Pillars of Plan A Climate change 9 Help our customers cut their carbon footprint Reduce our operational carbon emissions by 35% and make our operations 10 carbon neutral 11 Help our suppliers cut their carbon footprint 6 projects to achieve step change in reducing product carbon footprints When we launched Plan A, we committed to make our operations in the UK and Republic of Ireland carbon neutral and to help our customers reduce their emissions too. When we asked our expert stakeholders (The Carbon Trust, Forum for the Future, Oxfam, WWF-UK and Business in the Community) about our future plans on climate change, they advised us that; Achieving improvements in energy efficiency in our own operations is our most important task. We needed to be bolder in reducing emissions from refrigeration Working with our suppliers to reduce emissions in the supply chain is also very important. We must provide more ways to help customers reduce their emissions too. We ve worked with the Carbon Trust and others to estimate our carbon footprint at around 7 million tonnes (mt) CO 2e. This consists of around 4.3mt in our supply chain, 0.7mt for our own operations and around 2mt for customer use and disposal of our products. This work has helped us identify the key hotspots in our carbon footprint and focus our new commitments on these areas; farming, food manufacture and refrigeration. Objective 9 Help our customers cut their carbon footprint Although we sell over 35,000 different product lines, we know that a small number of factors dominate the carbon footprint arising from the use of our products. In particular how clothing is cared for, the energy performance of electrical goods and food waste in our customers homes. We have done a lot already to encourage low temperature washing and avoid food waste. We will keep on pushing these campaigns and we will now add an additional commitment to make our electrical goods more efficient. In the longer term we also need to find ways of achieving a significant improvement in the carbon performance of our products. To do this, we intend to undertake six projects which will help provide a step change in reducing carbon emissions across key food product ranges, encouraging our commercial teams to innovate whether it be on farming, manufacturing, logistics, packaging or product use. Developing a new Home Insulation Service We know our customers are increasingly looking for practical help in greening their homes. We already have a successful energy business, which plays an important role by encouraging consumers to use less energy. Over the next five years we plan to grow this business significantly, starting with our recently launched home insulation service. 22
35% improvement in energy efficiency Objective 10 Reduce our operational carbon emissions by 35% and make our operations carbon neutral Our operational carbon footprint is currently 700,000 tonnes CO 2e. We re taking action to address the three most significant contributing factors to this total: Energy use in our buildings (stores, warehouses and offices); fuel use in our delivery fleets; and the type of gases used in our refrigeration systems. We are also committed to delivering our existing target of making our UK and Republic of Ireland operations carbon neutral by 2012. 35% improvement in fuel efficiency 50% reduction in carbon footprint of refrigeration Energy use in our buildings The energy we use in our buildings accounts for 70% of this operational carbon footprint. We ve already improved their energy efficiency by 10% good progress towards our 2012 target of a 25% improvement in energy efficiency. We re now extending this efficiency target to 35% by 2015. We re using five Energy stores to test every possible energy efficiency innovation and will take what we learn out to our main chain of stores. Fuel use in logistics The energy we use in logistics accounts for 8% of our operational carbon footprint. We ve already our 2012 target a 20% improvement in delivery fuel efficiency to our stores and we re now extending this to a 35% improvement by 2015. We ll continue to trial low carbon logistics options for the future, including electric and hybrid vans. We ll monitor developments in bio-fuels closely, but for now we will maintain a moratorium on their use until a sustainable source of feedstock becomes available. Refrigeration Refrigeration accounts for 20% of our operational carbon footprint because the main gas currently used for refrigeration in the retail sector (Hydro fluorocarbon - HFC) is a potent greenhouse gas. Although leakage rates are low, the gases that do escape make a major contribution to our carbon footprint. Consequently, we re committing to reducing the carbon footprint of our refrigeration systems by 50% by 2015 and to ensure that by 2030 no HFC gases are used in our refrigeration and HVAC systems. Objective 11 Help our suppliers cut their carbon footprint The most substantial part of our total carbon footprint is in our supply chain. When we launched Plan A we said we d work with our suppliers to help them make carbon reductions. We have joined the Prince s MayDay Network to tackle climate change collaboratively and encouraged our suppliers to do so too. Introduction Plan A summary Our new and existing Plan A commitments Food factories Manufacturing food products in factories typically accounts for 20% of the carbon footprint of food. In future, all of our food factories will have an environmental action plan to help them achieve energy savings. By 2015, 25% of our food (by turnover) will come from factories demonstrating at least a 20% energy reduction. Farms Raw material production accounts for about 50% of the carbon footprint of food, so farming will be a key focus for us as we attempt to combat and adapt to climate change. Our Sustainable Agriculture Programme will help farmers tackle issues associated with climate change such as fuel, electricity and fertiliser management. We ll also build on the existing carbon footprinting work in our milk supply chain to support research and development on potential longer term solutions such as animal breeds and soil management. Research into low carbon farming Clothing factories Manufacture accounts for a relatively small part of the carbon footprint of clothing but tackling carbon emissions across hundreds of factories will make a positive difference. We know from experience that there are three key changes clothing factories can make to reduce their carbon footprints. Consequently, we re committing to make sure that our 100 top clothing factories install more efficient lighting, improve insulation and optimise temperature controls to reduce their energy use by at least 10%. Adaptation to climate change While it is important that we do everything we can to mitigate climate change by reducing emissions in our supply chain, we also need to recognise that some degree of climate change will happen. We will work to better understand what this means in terms of sourcing risk for the products we sell. 23
Marks and Spencer Group plc Our Plan A Commitments 2010-2015 Section 2 - Plan A summary Extending our social and environmental commitments across the 5 Plan A pillars Waste Extend our social and environmental commitments across the 5 Pillars of Plan A Waste Create partnerships to help our customers reuse or recycle all our products 12 and packaging Send no operational and construction waste to landfill and reduce our 13 operational waste by 25% and construction waste by 50% 14 Help our suppliers to reduce waste and send no waste to landfill When we launched Plan A in January 2007 we set commitments to send no waste to landfill from our own operations, to reduce packaging and carrier bag usage and to help our customers recycle used M&S clothing. Since we launched Plan A in 2007 we ve made good progress. We ve increased our own recycling levels to over 60% and reducing packaging usage by 16% on food and 15% on general merchandise. We ve also reduced food carrier bag use by 83% and helped our customers to recycle more packaging, Christmas cards, clothing and soft furnishings. Working together with WRAP, suppliers and trade associations we ve estimated that the M&S value chain accounts for around 2.5million tonnes of waste across the world. The majority of this waste (2million tonnes) is in our supply chains and a lot of it is currently recycled. Our stores, offices and warehouses produce 0.1million tonnes of waste. Used products and packaging from customers generates around 0.5million tonnes, of which 75,000 tonnes comes from packaging. In the summer of 2009 we asked our expert stakeholders (WRAP, Forum for the Future, INCPEN, WWF-UK and Business in the Community) to assess our future plans on waste. They advised us to: Do more to address food waste. Aim to reduce as well as recycle waste in our stores. 175million hangers recovered each year Work with our suppliers to reduce supply chain waste. Develop a more rounded approach to packaging to provide the lowest overall carbon footprint. Objective 12 Create partnerships to help our customers reuse and recycle all our products and packaging We want to help our customers recycle or reuse every product and piece of packaging we sell but we cannot do it alone. We will create partnerships to help achieve this target. For example, we will: Increase the number of garments recycled annually from 2million garments to 20million. Increase the number of clothing hangers we recover to 175million, with 75% (130million) being reused. 24
Introduction Work with local authorities such as Somerset County Council to invest in recycling facilities and then take a proportion of the recycled material back into our supply chain to make new packaging. Continue our support for WRAP s Love Food, Hate Waste campaign and review the guidance we can give to customers to help them reduce food waste by preparing a shopping list, storing food correctly and promoting recipes to use up leftovers. Plan A summary 50% reduction in construction waste 25% reduction in operational waste Objective 13 Send no operational and construction waste to landfill and reduce our operational waste by 25% and construction waste by 50% In 2008/09 our operations in the UK and Republic of Ireland generated over 100,000 tonnes of waste. By November 2009 we had improved our recycling level from 41% to over 60% for this waste and we aim to achieve 100% by 2012. Now we re going to re-engineer the way we distribute and transit-pack products to reduce operational waste by 25%. We produce a relatively small amount of construction waste and have already succeeded in improving recycling from 65% to 84%. We re still committed to recycling all of it by 2012. We ll also work with our construction suppliers to reduce the amount of waste produced by 50% by 2015. Our new and existing Plan A commitments Objective 14 - Help our suppliers to reduce waste and send no waste to landfill We ve learnt that different parts of our supply chain face different challenges on waste. Our clothing suppliers create relatively small amounts of solid waste but this is often difficult to recycle. Food supply chains create more waste but much of this is currently recycled. What can and cannot be recycled is also dictated by the local availability of recycling technologies across the 70 countries we source from. We ll now work with our food suppliers to help them recycle their remaining volumes that still go to landfill, by using the most carbon efficient approach available, for example anaerobic digestion or composting. We ll also work with our suppliers to minimise food packaging write-offs. From 2010 our new balanced scorecard for all food suppliers will help them all to reduce manufacturing waste and increase recycling. By 2015 we aim to source 25% of our food (by turnover) from factories that send no waste to landfill. Our Sustainable Agriculture Programme will also help reduce farm waste. 25
Marks and Spencer Group plc Our Plan A Commitments 2010-2015 Section 2 - Plan A summary Extending our social and environmental commitments across the 5 Plan A pillars Natural resources Extend our social and environmental commitments across the 5 Pillars of Plan A Natural resources 15 Ensure efficient use of natural resources in our operations 16 Reduce the impact on the natural resources used to make our products We ve worked hard to reduce our impact on natural resources by moving towards 100% MSC or equivalent fish and 100% wood that is FSC certified, recycled or otherwise protects forests and communities for example. In the summer of 2009 we asked our expert stakeholders (Rainforest Alliance, Forum for the Future, Greenpeace, WWF-UK and the RSPCA) to assess our future plans for natural resources. They advised us to: Make further improvements to the traceability of raw materials in our supply chains Extend the range of food commodities covered by sustainability standards Include farmed fish as well as wild fish in our sustainability programme Continue to address water usage an increasingly important issue Objective 15 Ensure efficient use of natural resources in our operations We re extending our 2012 operational water efficiency target to 25% by 2015 and will ensure that all new builds are 35% more water efficient than our current generation of stores. Objective 16 Reduce the impact on the natural resources used to make our products Six vulnerable raw materials from sources that do not cause deforestation We re now extending our work on natural resources to cover: farmed fish; commodities that may contribute to deforestation; production standards for water stressed countries; and the next generation of animal welfare standards. Forests Forests, particularly those in the tropics, are still being felled at unsustainable rates. We re already working towards a 2012 target to ensure that all of our wood comes from recycled, FSC or other sources that protect forests & communities. We are now taking this further by introducing a single model forest programme to provide our food cardboard packaging. We re also committed to doing more to tackle other causes of deforestation, particularly land use change caused by the planting of commodity crops. Soya, palm oil, beef, coffee, leather and cocoa are all associated with the clearance of forests, so we ve committed to procuring them from sources that don t contribute to deforestation by 2015. 26
Introduction Water The impact of water use is very location dependent. We ve been working with WWF to understand our water footprint better and identify the specific locations and activities where we have to take action. We will now focus on four key parts of our supply chain cotton production, dye-houses, farming in water stressed areas and food manufacture. Plan A summary Pesticide residue free fruit, vegetables and salads Biodiversity In addition to our plans to protect forests and water resources we know there is more we can do to protect biodiversity. Our Sustainable Agriculture Programme includes a strong element to protect soil and biodiversity. We will work with Butterfly Conservation to help protect butterfly populations and their habitats on farms across the British Isles. We ll also push harder on pesticide management in our food supply chain, making further improvements to their use in the field to protect the environment and workers while also reducing residues on the food we sell. We aim to ensure that 75% of our produce is residue free by 2015 and that 100% is residue free by 2020. Our new and existing Plan A commitments Animal welfare We ll engage with recognised experts, our farmers and NGOs to create innovative health and welfare programmes to maintain our sector leading standards. We aim to implement Health & Welfare improvement programmes across all fresh meat and dairy supply to M&S by 2015. On clothing and homeware we ll work with the RSPCA to develop a tailored approach to the way we address animal welfare in all our animal derived material supply chains, for example, wool and leather. 27
Marks and Spencer Group plc Our Plan A Commitments 2010-2015 Section 2 - Plan A summary Extending our social and environmental commitments across the 5 Plan A pillars Fair partnership Extend our social and environmental commitments across the 5 Pillars of Plan A Fair partnership 17 Ensure workforces and communities benefit in our supply chain There are about 2 million workers in our supply chain and through Plan A and our work with the Ethical Trading Initiative (Eti), we ve done a lot to make sure we use the best audit techniques to protect their rights. Looking forward, our vision is now more aspirational to ensure workforces and communities benefit through their involvement in our supply chain. Objective 17 Ensure workforces and communities benefit in our supply chain Clothing and homeware manufacture Most of our clothing and homeware is made in the developing world. We believe we can make a real and sustained difference in our supply chain by: Supporting the payment of a fair living wage in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka Supporting the payment of a fair living wage implementing a process to ensure our suppliers are able to pay workers a fair living wage in the least developed countries we source from, starting with Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka. Promoting training and education working with our suppliers and partners to provide training and education covering basic healthcare, workers rights and where possible, literacy and numeracy for 500,000 workers in our clothing supply chain to help improve their livelihoods. Rolling out learning from Ethical Model Factory programme taking the learning from our 3 existing ethical model factories in Bangladesh and sharing it with other factories in key countries. Food manufacture A good deal of our food is manufactured in the UK or EU, where strong legislation is in place to protect the rights of workers and standards of education are relatively high compared with developing countries. To help our food suppliers create better places to work we ll focus on: Training and educating 500,000 workers in our supply chain Rolling out our model factory programme all food factories will operate using our new balanced scorecard, requiring them to use HR best practices. By 2015, some 25% of our food will come from factories demonstrating leading standards in training, workforce and community engagement, health and safety and employment practices. Skills launching a series of initiatives in partnership with educational colleges to provide the core skills needed to ensure the food industry s future success. 28
Introduction Farming in the developing world We use a large number of commodities to make our products. We ve already converted our own label coffee and tea to Fairtrade in our shops and cafes and we are one of the largest purchasers of Fairtrade cotton in the world. We ll continue looking for opportunities to extend our use of Fairtrade. We will also undertake research to understand the impact of our trade on vulnerable communities. Farming in the UK and Ireland We remain committed to sourcing as much food as possible from UK and Irish farmers. As part of our commitment to the sustainability of the UK and Irish farming industry we are working to help them respond to new challenges to do with issues such as climate change, water and animal welfare. We will: Introduce a Sustainable Agriculture Programme for 10,000 farmers who supply us with fresh meat, dairy, produce and flowers by 2012. Thousands of farmers providing agricultural ingredients will be engaged by 2015 (see objective 7). Plan A summary Our new and existing Plan A commitments Use model farms to help trial practical new farming techniques. Engage our farmers via our new Plan A Farming Exchange which will be a focal point for bringing our UK farmers together to share the learning from these model farms. Work with LEAF to promote Open Farm Sunday and support Agricultural Shows across the UK to help our customers better understand how food is produced. Encourage the uptake of renewable energy in farming including sponsoring the Farmer s Weekly Green Energy Award Support research into new varieties and growing techniques that can increase the amount of food grown in the British Isles. 29