Plan A

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 and promote the usage of reusable bags. We do recycle – some of our clothes are made from PET bottles.By 2012 we aim to ensure that none of our clothing or packaging needs to end up as landfill.

Our 5-year Plan A commitments:

Reducing waste from our stores, offices and distribution centres
30. No operational waste to landfill - Marks & Spencer operations in the UK and Republic of Ireland (stores, offices and warehouses) will send no waste to landfill.
31. Food waste (reduction) - Setting targets over the next 12 months to reduce food waste from our stores and distribution centres.
32. Food waste (alternative disposal) - Send all remaining food waste to some form of recycling including composting and anaerobic digestion.
33. Construction waste - Marks & Spencer store construction programmes will send no waste to landfill.
34. Construction and fit-out materials: Work with WRAP to increase the amount of recycled materials used in the construction and ‘fit-out’ of our stores.
35. Café Closed Loop - Trialling closed loop recycling for packaging in Café Revives over the next 12 months.
36. Consumables: Improve our use of recycled and recyclable materials in consumable items used in our stores and offices.

Reducing packaging and ensuring that its easy to recycle
37. Packaging (reduction) - Reducing the weight of non-glass packaging by 25%.
38. Packaging (sustainable raw materials) - Increase the amount of packaging made from more sustainable raw materials such as recycled materials and Forest Stewardship Council wood pulp.
39. Packaging (recycling and composting) - Ensure that all packaging can be easily recycled or composted accepting that in some case this may require the use of heavier materials.
40. Packaging (WRAP logos) - Label all our packaging with the Waste & Resource Action Programme (WRAP) and Recycle Now symbols.
41. Packaging (Courtauld Commitment) - Continue to work with WRAP in order to achieve the targets to reduce packaging and food waste contained in the Courtauld Commitment between 2008-2010.

Reducing waste from our products and making them easy to recycle
42. Bin bags - Launch a range of bin bags made from recycled polythene collected from Marks & Spencer distribution centres.
43. Clothing hangers - Extending hanger recycling with a customer awareness campaign to build on the 50 million we currently recycle and reuse each year.
44. Customer recycling services - Introduce a range of recycling services for our customers including a project for used clothing.

Reducing our use of carrier bags
45. Carrier bags (reduction) - Reducing carrier bag use by 33% by 2010 including launching a ‘No to Bags’ campaign.
46. Carrier bags (recycled plastic) – Make our remaining carrier bags out of recycled polythene by 2008/09.
47. Carrier bag agreement – Work with Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the British Retail Consortium and Waste & Resources Action Programme to reduce the overall environmental impact of carriers bags by (at least) 25% by the end of 2008.