New Look updates sustainability strategy after exceeding targets
High street fashion retailer New Look has today published its Sustainability Report for 2024, updating its ‘Kind to Our Core’ sustainability strategy after revealing it's on track to exceed targets.
New Look received approval from the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) on its emissions targets in April.
The emissions targets include a short-term goal to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 42% by 2030 and reduce absolute scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions by the same amount by the end of the decade.
Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions that are owned or controlled by a company, whereas scope 2 and 3 are indirect emissions that are a consequence of the activities of the company but derive from sources not owned or controlled by it.
Today, the retailer has revealed that in Scope 1 and Scope 2, it has already reduced its emissions by 22% since FY22 – putting it on track to exceed its near-term SBT. Total carbon has reduced by 12% over the same period. In Scope 3, emissions have been reduced by 11% compared to 2022, which is on track for its near-term SBT. This has saved 212 tonnes of textiles from ending up in landfill this year.
New Look remains committed to using lower-impact fibres across its products. This year, 77% of all clothing had at least one attribute that lowers its impact, a 14% increase compared to the last financial year.
Moving forward, it has unveiled updated targets to increase traceable and recycled cotton and raise the minimum percentage of recycled content in synthetics to 30% from 25%, which will simultaneously reduce its carbon and water footprint.
To drive its sustainability strategy, New Look has today announced two new partnerships. The first is a partnership with the giving platform, Neighbourly. Through this partnership, each New Look store will support a charity in their local community. The second is a partnership with IndustriALL Global Union, as part of the Action Collaboration Transformation (ACT) initiative to deliver fair wages to workers in Cambodia.
Sue Fairley, Head of Sustainability at New Look, said: "We are two years on from the launch of our sustainability strategy and I am very proud of the progress we have made across each focus area including the approval of our Science Based Targets, our new partnership with Neighbourly, and our ground-breaking agreement with IndustriALL. ‘Kind to our Core’ is embedded across all of New Look’s operations and we are beginning to see strong results.
"The approval of our Science Based Targets was a huge milestone for our business, and we are well on track to meet our targets. Looking ahead to 2025, we will continue to drive forward our strategy and work with our partners to ensure we are operating in the most sustainable – and ‘kind’ - way possible."