Plan A

Plan A is Marks & Spencer's environmental and ethical programme.

Plan A was published by our British headquarters in January 2007. It contains 100 commitments that we set out to achieve in five years. As much as 200 million pounds is expected to be spent on achieving these commitments.

Through Plan A we are working with our customers, employees and suppliers. Together we seek to combat climate change, reduce waste, use sustainable raw materials, trade ethically, and help our customers and employees to lead healthier lifestyles.

We are doing this because it is what you want us to do. It's also the right thing to do. We are calling it Plan A because we believe it's now the only way to do business. Because there is no Plan B.

At the heart of Plan A are 5 key pillars:

Climate Change
We combat climate change. We aim to make our operations carbon neutral. To achieve this, we aim to use energy efficiently and only use green energy (from renewable sources) – we build eco shops and eco factories that are so designed as to burden the environment as little as possible.

Waste
We preserve natural resources, we aim to send no waste to landfills, we ensure disposing of our waste in alternative ways and above all we aim to prevent waste generation and sort out waste. Also, we aim to reduce the use and production of plastic carrier bags. We do recycle – some of our clothes are made from PET bottles.

Sustainable Raw Materials
From fishing to forests... All key raw materials must be sustainable and renewable, ideally coming from sites as close to our factories as possible. We also use free range eggs and paper made of FSC certified wood.

Fair Partner
We promote Corporate Social Responsibility. We offer fair trading terms to developing country growers and producers, thus contributing to their better standard of living (Fairtrade). We create new jobs and employment opportunities for handicapped people. We only produce cosmetics that are not tested on animals (Human Cosmetics Standard – HCS) and do not support the fur trade.

Healthy Lifestyle
Our aim is to continue to maintain a high standard of food quality and help our customers lead healthier lifestyles. We eliminate the use of additives and colorants in our products, reduce content of fat, sugar and salt, we produce well balanced food (the Eat Well logo) and offer a wide range of organic products.


For further information, please visit the offical Marks & Spencer Plana A website.