Plan A not only looks at the commitments to be made by M&S, but also identifies areas along the supply chain where changes can be made to reduce waste, use sustainable raw materials and trade ethically. The difference between the Plan A initiative and programs from other retailers, such as Wal-Mart, is that the retailer is actively encouraging their 2.1 million customers to become involved.
The First Three Years
Since the inception of Plan A in 2007, progress has been made in a number of areas which has led to 45 out of the original 100 commitments being met. In addition, a number of commitments directly linked to the supply chain have been met or exceeded. For example, food packaging has been reduced by 18 percent and the fuel efficiency of the company’s transportation fleet has been increased by over 20 percent.With regards to recycling, Plan A commitments have seen 120 million clothes hangers re-used each year as well as reducing the number of plastic carrier bags given out by 400 million per year.
As well as being proud of their achievements so far, M&S has found that the cost of implementing Plan A to be less than expected. For the year ending 2010, M&S ended up with a £50 million surplus.
The Next Phase Of Plan A
After the successes of the first three years M&S have identified areas in the supply chain where improvements can be made. These new commitments include;- All raw materials should be purchased from an on sustainability program.
- All 10,000 farms to produce fresh meat, dairy, produce and flowers involved in the Sustainable Agricultural program by 2012.
- 35 percent reduction in energy use, refrigeration carbon footprint down 50 percent.
- Logistics and Transportation to be 35 percent more efficient.
- Reduce clothing warehouses from 100 to 4 and make those four at least 35 percent more efficient.
Working With Suppliers
M&S have been working with their suppliers and partners to introduce Plan A across the supply chain. They have taken their best practices and developed a set sustainability standards that each suppliers is required to adopt to be part of the M&S supply chain.All of our food vendors are covered by a balanced performance scorecard that includes social and environmental issues as well as lean manufacturing. M&S expect that 25 percent of their food vendors should achieve the highest performance standard by 2015.
The farmers that supply fresh meat, dairy, produce and flowers to M&S will be part of our Sustainable Agriculture Program by 2012. The plan is to expand this so that by 2015 M&S will have moved this program into the manufacturers of agricultural ingredients used to produce our food.
To avoid issues that have plagued other companies, M&S are working with their general merchandise suppliers to introduce social and environmental improvements. Initially this program is for the top 100 clothing factories throughout the world. In addition M&S want to extend traceability standards so that every part of the supply chain down to the raw materials can be identified and vendors held accountable with regards to social and environmental requirements.
Becoming Carbon Neutral
M&S have pledged to reduce their carbon footprint and look to areas of their supply chain to introduce programs to reduce it. They are taking action in the three most significant contributing factors to this total: Energy use in our buildings (stores, warehouses and offices); fuel use in transportation fleets; and the type of gases used in refrigeration systems. The plan is to make the UK and Republic of Ireland operations carbon neutral by 2012.- Energy Use in Buildings – This accounts for 70 percent of the companies operational carbon footprint. M&S are looking to make a 25 percent improvement in energy efficiency by 2012 and 35 percent by 2015.
- Transportation – This area accounts for only 8 percent of the operational carbon footprint. Again, the company is looking to make a 35 percent reduction by 2015. To do this M&S has introduced hybrid and electric vehicles and will be looking to bio-fuels as the technology improves.
- Refrigeration – This accounts for 20 percent of the operational carbon footprint. The reduction that the company is aiming for is aggressive, with a goal of a 50 percent reduction by 2015 and an added goal of becoming free of the HFC (Hydro fluorocarbon) gases, used in refrigeration and HVAC systems, by 2030.
In addition to the company’s carbon neutral goals, M&S is helping their suppliers along the supply chain to improve their carbon footprint. By 2015, M&S would like 25 percent of the food sold in their store to be supplied by factories demonstrating at least a 20 percent energy reduction. Similar goals are found in sourcing clothing where M&S want to make sure that their top one hundred clothing factories install more efficient lighting, improve insulation and optimize temperature controls to reduce energy use by at least 10 percent. Over half of carbon output along the company’s supply chain comes from farming and M&S are working with farmers to help with the management of electricity, fuel, soil management and fertilizer.
