At M&S we want to play our part in protecting the world’s forests for the future and we have a clear goal to eliminate deforestation from the production of palm oil, soy, meat and wood in M&S products. We’ve been working with our suppliers for over a decade, focusing on products that use soy and palm oil, textiles made from wood pulp and other wood and paper products.
Ending deforestation is a big global challenge that can only be solved by retailers, producers and governments coming together.
Zero deforestation: How are we doing?
- 100% of palm oil certified responsibly sourced by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil
- 100% of soy sourced using the Round Table for Responsible Soy Credits (RTRS) and recognised sustainable soy schemes
- 100% responsibly sourced wood and paper
Supporting more sustainable palm oil
Palm oil is the world’s most popular vegetable oil because it is an incredibly versatile ingredient that is very efficient to grow. However, huge areas of tropical rainforest and peatland have been lost due to palm oil production. This is bad news for endangered species like orangutan and bad news for efforts to combat climate change.
We use less than 0.0001% of the world’s palm oil for our products but we still want to play our part in helping change palm oil production for the better. That’s why we only buy palm oil that is certified responsibly sourced by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) – a global non-profit organisation working to improve palm oil production to protect biodiversity and forests and safeguard human rights. Our progress on sourcing sustainable palm oil has recently been recognised by WWF’s Palm Oil Scorecard, in which we were ranked the number one UK retailer.
We don’t think that boycotting palm oil is the answer, because alternative vegetable oils also come with sustainability challenges and require more land to grow. We believe we can have more impact by helping improve standards across the palm oil sector, for example we helped found the Retail Palm Oil Transparency Coalition and we’re members of the Tropical Forests Alliance, the Consumer Goods Forum and the Retail Palm Oil Group – all working to bring about change.
Read more about our approach to palm oil.
A better approach to soy production
Soy is widely used across food supply chains, mainly as animal feed. Brazil is one of the world’s major producers and growing demand for soy has lead to deforestation in regions such as the Amazon and the Cerrado.
We’ve had a responsible sourcing programme for soy for many years and we put in place clear requirements for our suppliers. We believe collaboration is key to finding solutions to our biggest challenges, so we work with NGOs and the wider industry in groups such as the UK Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) and the Consumer Good Forum. As members of the RTRS, we’re helping to support the production of responsible soy and we were the first retailer to commit to buying its credits.
Now we want to go even further. We’re exploring alternatives to soy-based animal feed as well as working with suppliers and others to help increase the availability of deforestation-free soy.
Textiles derived from trees
Many of the textile fibres we use, such as viscose, rayon, lyocell and modal come from trees. The wood is pulped and then undergoes a chemical process to transform it into fibres.
Viscose is one of the top three raw materials used in our clothing and we source 11,000 tonnes of it a year. So it’s really important to us that it’s produced responsibly and legally and doesn’t come from ancient and endangered forests or endangered species habitat. That’s why, we only source from suppliers who have been independently audited and can prove that their wood pulp meets our leading standards. We’re transparent about our supply chain and recently added our viscose and cellulose materials suppliers to our interactive supplier map.
But we’re not stopping there. We’re exploring how we can use alternative fibres with a lower environmental footprint, such as those made from recycled textiles and agricultural waste. And we’re partnering with others to find solutions through the Canopy Initiative.
Want to know where our viscose comes from?
On our interactive map, you can see the factories and suppliers that provide our viscose and other man-made cellulose fibres.
Responsible wood sourcing
We use wood, paper and pulp in our products, packaging, publications and furniture and we go to great lengths to make sure it’s responsibly sourced.
Our wood sourcing policy prevents our suppliers from sourcing wood or paper from forests with high conservation value and ensures our high standards are being met.
Responsibly sourced beef
We know our beef sourcing doesn’t contribute to deforestation because we only source from the UK and the Republic of Ireland (for our Irish stores). All our beef is DNA traceable so we can trace each pack back to the individual animal and farm it came from. You can find out about our farmers on our interactive map.
We apply rigorous standards to our leather too and any suppliers sourcing leather from South America must verify that it does not come from cattle reared in the Amazon region.
What’s next?
We’ll keep looking for ways to improve our responsible sourcing of raw materials, finding innovative solutions to improve resource use and partnering with others to protect forests and create a more sustainable future.