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Marks & Spencer Plans to Go Green |
Marks & Spencer Plans to Go Green
JANUARY 18, 2007
United Kingdom-based retailer Marks & Spencer announced a $392 million plan to become "carbon neutral" by 2012, with plans to open an environmentally green factory as well, according to Ecommercetimes.com.
The announced commitment by Marks & Spencer, which is the U.K.'s largest clothing retailer, would be the equivalent of taking 100,000 cars off the road. The company's 100-point action plan also aims to stop sending waste to landfill sites by 2012, to increase the amount of food sourced locally and regionally, to increase the use of recycled materials and to end the need for consumers to throw away any of its products or packaging. To become carbon neutral, Marks & Spencer would only use offsetting--the purchase of carbon credits from others--as a last resort. It intends to improve its energy efficiency by 25 percent, power all its stores using renewable energy and trial a technology known as anaerobic digestion, which enables electricity to be produced from food waste.
Other U.K.-based retailers Tesco and J Sainsbury also have launched their own environmental initiatives, piloting programs such as doorstep delivery of organic vegetable boxes and reduced use of plastic bags.
The company also has pledged to double the amount of food sourced locally over the next 12 months, minimize the amount of food imported by air, use biofuels in half its vehicle fleet, reduce packaging by 25 percent, start selling polyester clothing made only from recycled plastic bottles and increase sales of garments made from Fairtrade cotton to $20 million this year. Marks & Spencer intends to open a model "green" factory in partnership with one of its 2,000 suppliers, and three model green shops in the U.K. cities of Glasgow, Bournemouth and Liverpool.
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