M&S is a British retailer with 32 million customers across the world. We’re known for our award-winning food, clothing and homeware
Marks and Spencer
Consumer Goods Forum Publishes First-Ever Set of Palm Oil Sourcing Guidelines
7 years ago - The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), a global industry network driven by its members to encourage the adoption of practices and standards that serve the consumer goods industry worldwide, has announced publication of the first-ever Sustainable Palm Oil Sourcing Guidelines.
Consumer Goods Industry Commits to Halving Its Food Waste Globally by 2025
7 years ago - Last week, The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) — whose membership includes hundreds of consumer brands from a range of industries around the world, including food giants Campbell Soup, Clif Bar, Hershey, Mars and Procter & Gamble — announced a new resolution to mitigate the roughly 40 percent of food wasted globally by agreeing to halve food waste within the operations of its 400 retailer and manufacturer members by 2025, and to support wider U
From Theory to Practice: Phase 3 of the Roundtable for Product Social Metrics
7 years ago - Back in 2013, PRé and seven frontrunner companies developed a vision to create a standardised and trusted methodology to assess the social impacts of products. Creating such a methodology together would avoid the drawbacks of each company developing its own methodology. Two years later, the Roundtable for Product Social Metrics has reached its third phase.The aim of the product social footprinting methodology was not only to measure and reduce social risks in the supply chain but also to identify improvement opportunities, reduce the social footprint of products and drive innovation.
Unilever, WWF, Germany Named Sector Leaders in Driving Sustainability Agenda
7 years ago - Globescan and SustainAbility released their 2015 Sustainability Leaders survey today, asking experts to assess the progress that various institutions have made in advancing sustainable development since the historic Earth Summit in 1992.Results drawn from 816 sustainability experts across 82 countries indicate a positive perception of non-state actors and lack of confidence in the leadership of national governments. NGOs’ sustainability contribution is ranked highest among those polled, followed by social entrepreneurs, independent academic organizations, social change movements, and multi-sector collaborations.
Valuing the Invaluable: How WWF Is Helping Companies Protect the Ultimate Shared Resource
7 years ago - Water is essential to business of all kinds — from resource extraction to retail. Its scarcity poses collective risks; not just to a company’s facilities, but also to the municipalities in which it operates and the communities comprising its consumer base.
M&S Launches Companywide Campaign to Engage Employees in 'Making Energy Matter'
7 years ago - UK retailer Marks & Spencer has launched a new employee engagement campaign to help the company cut energy use by 50 percent across its UK operations by 2020.
Two Years On, How Are Global Fashion Supply Chains Changing in the Wake of Rana Plaza?
7 years ago - Today marks the two-year anniversary of the devastating collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory in Bangladesh. It also marks the second Fashion Revolution Day, launched last year to commemorate the Rana Plaza disaster with the aims of encouraging greater collaboration across the fashion sector supply chain.
Over 40 CEOs Urge World Leaders to Take Concrete Climate Action, Just as G7 Ministers Pledge to Do Just That
7 years ago - On Friday, 43 CEOs from some of the world’s largest corporations signed an open letter urging attendants of the upcoming Paris Climate Summit (November 30th-December 11th) to deliver an ambitious climate change agreement, while pledging to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions. Released almost simultaneously, a report commissioned by the G7 Foreign Ministers also recommended concrete actions that foreign ministers can take to increase the climate-resilience of weak states.
Coffee Ground Yarn, Rice Husks and More in M&S' First Sustainable Footwear Collection
8 years ago - UK retailer Marks & Spencer has launched its first sustainable footwear collection, called Footglove Earth — the latest component of the company's ongoing Plan A initiative to become the world's most sustainable retailer by 2020.
Industry Leaders Weigh In on Methodology for Measuring Products' Social Impacts
8 years ago - In September, a Roundtable of companies comprised of Ahold, AkzoNobel, BASF, BMW Group, Goodyear, L’Oréal, Marks & Spencer, Philips, RB, Steelcase, DSM and PRé Sustainability published a handbook on how to conduct a Product Social Impact Assessment.
UK's First 'Social Supermarket' Tackling Food Waste and Poverty
8 years ago - The UK’s first “social supermarket” opened in London last week — the first in a project aimed at reducing food waste as well as supporting low-income households. Surplus food from some of Britain’s largest supermarkets (such as Asda, Tesco and M&S) is being resold at highly discounted prices to food-insecure locals at the country’s first Community Shop in Lambeth.
#SB14London: Barry Digs Deep Into Challenges, Lessons Learned as M&S Embarks on Next Phase of 'Plan A'
8 years ago - As Marks & Spencer’s Plan A programme moves into a new phase — that of engagement — the company’s director of sustainable business, Mike Barry took to the stage Tuesday evening at SB ’14 London to offer his insights into how companies can build long-term, restorative models that are as much about inclusivity as they are profitability.
Levi’s, M&S Among Latest Brands Proving Deforestation Is Out of Style
8 years ago - Fashion Loved by Forest, the campaign spearheaded by Canadian forest conservation nonprofit Canopy that is rallying the fashion industry to commit to deforestation-free materials, continues to gain momentum. Just weeks after announcing the addition of EcoPlanet Bamboo — the largest global developer of certified bamboo plantations on degraded lands, Canopy announced today that Levi Strauss & Co., Marks & Spencer, fashion brand Aritzia, online retailer ASOS, and lifestyle brands Under the Canopy and Portico are joining the initiative.
M&S Replacing Confounding Packaging Ties with Eco- and Consumer-Friendly Paper Version
8 years ago - Isn’t it great when a simpler solution makes the most sense? This week, Marks and Spencer (M&S) rolled out a much less aggravating alternative to the dreaded plastic and metal ties traditionally used to secure products inside packaging, particularly that of toys.The company told edie.net that its patent-pending 'PaperTies' lock products in place and, while strong enough to withstand transport and other wear and tear, are easily torn by the buyer, making receiving a new toy a much less frustrating experience for its recipient. And unlike the standard plastic and metal version, the 100% FSC-certified PaperTies are easily recyclable.
Marks & Spencer Uses Mobile Tech to Poll Over 60,000 Workers in Five Countries
8 years ago - Marks & Spencer (M&S) has scaled up its use of Labor Link mobile technology in the supply chain to poll 64,230 workers across 46 manufacturing locations in 5 countries (China, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the UK) — exceeding its target of 22,500 workers in 30 factories by more than double.
World's Largest Retailers Take Stand Against Forced Labor in Uzbek Cotton Harvesting
8 years ago - With the annual International Uzbek Cotton and Textile Fair scheduled for October 14th and 15th in Tashkent, retailers and apparel brands are taking action to prevent Uzbek cotton from entering their supply chains. Markets for Uzbek cotton sourced with forced labor continue to diminish as consumers become more aware of the egregious human rights violations that occur during the Uzbek cotton harvest.
Unilever, Coke, M&S, BT Launch Digital Platform to Engage Millennials on Our Power to Create Change, 'Collectively'
8 years ago - A coalition of the world’s biggest companies has launched a global digital platform to drive conversation and momentum around sustainability — and to help reach the ever-elusive goal of making sustainable lifestyles the new normal.The idea for Collectively, launched today, emerged from conversations at last year’s World Economic Forum between Unilever, BT Group, The Coca-Cola Company, Marks & Spencer and Carlsberg, around how to engage more effectively with millennials to inspire and accelerate more sustainable ways of living.
Coke Teams Up with Nestlé, Tesco and More in Latest Push to Improve Consumer Recycling Habits
8 years ago - Plastic has in recent years become one of the top materials households know they should be recycling — but there’s often confusion about what’s recyclable and which material goes into which bin.
Accounting for Carbon: New UK Regulations Connect Carbon to Finances
8 years ago - In 2013, legislation quietly passed within the UK that would require companies listed on the London Stock Exchange to disclose global greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) within their publically available annual Directors’ Report. These new reporting rules made the UK the first country to institute mandatory carbon reporting as of October 2013.
Private and Public Sectors Are Fueling Use of Ecolabels, But Are Consumers Catching On?
8 years ago - How can you persuade people to make responsible purchasing decisions? It isn’t an easy question. Vast global industries have been built up around understanding and influencing the tangled web of decisions and motivations that take place when buying products or services.Price and quality are common factors. But as awareness increases around the environmental challenges currently facing the world then sustainability is becoming an ever-greater motivator.