Fashion lights up people’s lives, bringing joy, freedom and individuality. It used to be a luxury not everyone could afford but retailers like Primark helped make it accessible to everyone.
Now Primark is aiming to make it possible to buy better – to give customers the opportunity to make more sustainable choices at a price they can afford.
Primark has recently unveiled a new 10-year Primark Cares strategy which sets out nine new commitments that will help Primark become a more sustainable and circular business.
This includes helping to reduce fashion waste by making clothes that last longer and can be recycled, using only cotton that’s organic, recycled or sourced through Primark’s Sustainable Cotton Programme, and cutting out single-use plastic.
Primark is working with their suppliers to halve their carbon footprint, using greener energy sources and helping bring back nature with more regenerative farming practices, less water and less chemicals.
They are also working to improve the lives of the people who make their clothes by pursuing a living wage for the workers in their supply chain and creating opportunities for women across their supply chain.
Primark is committed to doing all of this whilst staying affordable. Because they want everyone to be in on change, so no one is left behind.
Primark’s nine new commitments include:
1. Affordable clothes designed to last: Primark will strengthen the durability of their clothes by 2025
2. Clothes that can be recycled: All clothes will be recyclable by design by 2027
3. Clothes made of recycled fibre: All clothes will be made from recycled or more sustainably sourced materials by 2030
4. Halve Primark’s carbon footprint: Primark will halve carbon emissions across their value chain by 2030
5. Eliminate non-clothing waste: Primark will eliminate single use plastics and all non-clothing waste by 2027
6. Restore biodiversity: Primark’s sustainable cotton programme will train farmers to use more regenerative agriculture practices by 2030
7. Create financial resilience: Primark will pursue a living wage for workers in the supply chain and support them with financial literacy training and access to social protection by 2030
8. Promote equal opportunities for women: Primark will strengthen the position of women across their supply chain through skills development and addressing their barriers to progression by 2030
9. Improve health and well-being: Primark will ensure access to effective grievance processes for workers in the supply chain and widen access to help for mental and physical well-being by 2030
Primark CEO, Paul Marchant, said:
“This is a new and exciting chapter in the Primark story. Our ambition is to offer customers the affordable prices they know and love us for, but with products that are made in a way that is better for the planet and the people who make them. We know that’s what our customers, and our colleagues, want and expect from us.
“This isn’t the start of our journey. We’ve been working to become a more sustainable and ethical business for over 10 years. One in four of all the clothes we sell already come from our Primark Cares range of products made from recycled or more sustainably sourced materials. Our new commitments mark a significant acceleration in the pace and scale of change, requiring us to think differently about how we do business. Right from how our clothes are designed and manufactured, through to how we sell them in stores.
“We believe that sustainability shouldn’t be priced at a premium that only a minority can afford. Because of who we are, we believe we have the opportunity to make more sustainable fashion choices affordable to all.”
For more information on the Primark Cares strategy, including information on Primark’s Ethical Trade and Environmental Sustainability programme, visit: https://corporate.primark.com/...
