Cotton
Our approach 
For over a decade, M&S has been working to develop a more practical approach to help define what more responsible cotton means and to progressively convert our conventional cotton to our preferred options.
Since 2012, our sourcing requirements have promoted cotton production that uses more water-efficient processes and fewer chemical fertilisers and pesticides, as set out in our M&S Cotton Sourcing Policy
In 2019, we succeeded in converting 100% of the cotton used in our clothing to be sourced through Better Cotton or with Organic and Recycled certifications. We continue to maintain this position by working closely with our supplier partners and through industry collaborations.
Cotton has a particularly complex global supply chain and its production supports the livelihoods of millions of people. The cotton fibre we use in our Clothing & Home products mainly comes from India, China, Pakistan and Turkey. As we don’t own farms or factories we have chosen to work with a wide range of multi-stakeholder and industry organisations to ensure our knowledge remains up to date and that we carefully measure the impact of each of our decisions.
We recognise four different ways of sourcing cotton more responsibly:
Better Cotton is sourced via a chain of custody model called mass balance. This means that this cotton is not physically traceable to end products, however, Better Cotton Farmers benefit from the demand for Better Cotton in equivalent volumes to those we use in our products.
The farmer centric vision of Better Cotton has always been aligned with our own vision of the difference we want to be making in the cotton industry, and through their programmes Better Cotton trains farmers to use water efficiently, care for soil health and natural habitats, reduce use of the most harmful chemicals and respect workers’ rights and wellbeing’.
All this work supports farms with cotton s, grown with less chemical pesticide and fertilisers, it also allows the farmers to improve their yield and profit creating a clear commercial incentive to scale up the programme and increase Better Cotton production.
Within 10 years of direct partnership with Better Cotton, working with other brands and supply chain stakeholders also members of the organisation, we achieve for 20% of the global cotton production to be produced by licenced farmers.
Organic Cotton is grown without the use of pesticides or synthetic fertilisers. We currently recognise two certifications for organic cotton: the Organic Cotton Standard (OCS) and Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). Any product claiming organic status must meet our Organic Material Policy (e.g. meet legal standards for organic fibres and be supported by correct documentation and certificates).
Organic cotton currently represents a very small part of the global cotton production, which so far has limited its growth within our fibre mix.
Recycled cotton can be produced from both pre-consumer and post-consumer waste, making it the preferred choice due to its ability to reduce the need for extracting new raw materials. However, recycled cotton currently available does not have the desired quality, particularly yarn durability, which prevents us from using it more widely in our products.
We will continue to monitor this as the technology improves and we are working closely with our supply chain and the rest of the industry to increase the collection of cotton waste. We are confident as the quality of feedstock increases the use of recycled cotton will continue to grow.
Our partners 
Better Cotton is a longstanding M&S partner. We joined as a pioneer member back in 2009 and since then, we have supported Better Cotton’s mission to help cotton communities survive and thrive, while protecting and restoring the environment.
Better Cotton’s mission is to help cotton communities survive and thrive, while protecting and restoring the environment.
M&S became a Pioneer Member of Better Cotton in 2009, actively supporting the organisation to grow. In 2021 alone, our sourcing of cotton through Better Cotton contributed to the estimate saving of 15 billion litres of water, 9.5 MT of pesticides and an overall 6.5 million Euro of additional profit for Better Cotton Farmers, through an increase in yields and optimised use of agricultural inputs.
In 2023/24, we ran a pilot in our Indian supply chain to trace Better Cotton from its region of origin up to each stage of its transformation process and into our UK stores. The traceability journey started at the ginner (when cotton fibre is separated from the seeds) close to the fields in Maharashtra; to the northern region of Himachal Pradesh for spinning; garment manufacturing in Delhi; and finally, our stores in the UK. This project gave us invaluable learnings on all suppliers’ perspectives and input on how to scale Better Cotton traceability throughout our supply chain, and we have shared our feedback with the Traceability Panel.
More information on Better Cotton can be found on their website.
Our policy
Read moreAs per our Responsible Cotton Sourcing Policy, we do not source cotton from the following countries or regions:
Because of ongoing concerns regarding the use of government-backed forced labour during the cotton-picking season, Marks & Spencer, in line with several other retailers, have banned the use of both cotton fibre and fabrics from Uzbekistan (since 2008) and Turkmenistan (since 2016) and in all our products.
Following the human rights abuses taking place in the Uyghur population in Western China, we were one of the first companies to formally sign the Call to Action on human rights abuses
(Brand Commitment to Exit the Uyghur Region) and committed to ban Xinjiang cotton from its supply chain. This is in line with the company’s long-term focus on ensuring its supply chains are sustainable and ethical, where workers are treated fairly, and their human rights are respected.
All our suppliers must declare the cotton country of origin to us, and we are working with our suppliers and partners to strengthen our due diligence processes. If a product is found to contain cotton originating from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan or Xinjiang, we reserve the right to cancel that order or return items to the supplier at their expense.