CorpComms Magazine

Major retailers such as Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Walmart are going to great lengths to ensure sustainable practice across their supply chain, according to a recent study by environmental consultancy Five Winds International.

The research showed that the big retailers are vying with one another to become sustainability leaders in the industry with fairly comprehensive environmental policies, programmes and targets. Many stores are working to reduce the environmental impact their activities by building eco-friendly office and storage space, reducing packaging, introducing reusable carrier bags, curbing carbon emissions by exploring new fuel options for transportation and improving the efficiency of their delivery fleet and installing management structures to monitor performance and analyse its impact.

Regulators and stakeholders are exerting increasing pressure on these companies to support local producers and stock fairly traded and ethically sourced produce and retailers are also looking to discharge their social responsibilities by maintaining fair labour practices within the company and supporting local communities.

At the beginning of last month, Marks & Spencer announced 80 major new social and ecological commitments under its corporate social responsibility programme, 'Plan A', along with a pledge to become the world's most sustainable retailer by 2015. Five Winds' findings would suggest the supermarket is running a little ahead of schedule.

Companies were graded according to their performance across 500 sustainable business practices using a measure known as CSRInsight. Owing to the comprehensiveness of the categories, 50 per cent is considered a strong score. Marks & Spencer laid waste to the competition, achieving a score of 71 per cent.

Sir Stuart Rose, chairman of Marks & Spencer, said the supermarket's sustainability plan set out to 'reach further and move us faster - covering every part of our business and reaching out to forests, farms, factories, lorries, warehouses and into our customers' and employees' homes. We believe sustainability is a key ingredient of business success and that Plan A will continue to make us more efficient, develop new markets and build customer loyalty. It's therefore not just the right thing to do morally but also makes strong commercial sense.'

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