Marks and Spencer Carbon Neutral by 2012

Marks and Spencer reveal 200 million pound eco-plan

UK high street retailer Marks and Spencer have announced plans to become carbon neutral (1) within 5 years. The 100-point eco-plan Plan A will impact every aspect of the company's operations from manufacturing to product labelling, and from waste management to in store heating. Recently maligned Carbon offsetting will only be used as the last resort.

Marks and Spencer chief executive Stuart Rose (pictured above) spoke of the initiative on Monday 15th January promising that the extra costs will not be passed onto customers and that Plan A will reduce energy usage by the equivalent of removing 100,000 cars from the roads. He said "We are calling this 'Plan A' because there is no 'Plan B'".

Actively embracing carbon neutrality, ethical trading, sustainable sourcing, and by sending no waste to landfill, Marks and Spencer hope to "help customers and employees to lead a healthier life". They even intend to trial using waste food to help heat some of their 500 stores using anaerobic digestion (2) to generate biogas.

Selected points of interest are plans to:
Use 50% biodiesel (3) in their lorries
Power stores with green renewable energy and be 25% more energy efficient (4)
Use only cardboard, metal, glass and plastic packaging which can all be recycled.
Use 20% less water (5) in stores, offices, and distribution centres.

The full Marks and Spencer press release on Plan A (6) can be read here. It is very detailed and well worth a read.

Web Link References

(1) http://www.reuk.co.uk/Carbon-Neutral.htm
(2) http://www.reuk.co.uk/Anaerobic-Digestion-and-Biogas.htm
(3) http://www.reuk.co.uk/Introduction-to-Biodiesel.htm
(4) http://www.reuk.co.uk/energy-efficiency.htm
(5) http://www.reuk.co.uk/10-Ways-to-Save-Water.htm
(6) http://www2.marksandspencer.com/thecompany/mediacentre/pressreleases/2007/com2007-01-15-00.shtml

Article from REUK.co.uk:
http://www.reuk.co.uk/Marks-and-Spencer-Carbon-Neutral-by-2012.htm
Published: 19th January 2007
© REUK 2009