Just over a year ago, in September 2021, the Irish textile discounter Primark presented a far-reaching sustainability strategy aimed at reducing textile waste, halving CO2 emissions throughout the company’s value chain and improving the lives of the people who use Primark manufacture products. The company has now presented the results in its “Sustainability and Ethics Progress Report 2021/22”.
Specifically, Primark is committed to becoming more sustainable in four key areas, viz
- to use more sustainable materials
- to recycle their design process,
- to use less CO2 and single-use plastic and
- to guarantee living wages and fair working conditions.
“The past twelve months have been about laying the right foundations for our sustainability strategy, Primark Cares. Above all, we have focused on positioning ourselves in such a way that we can fulfill our self-commitments. That’s why pilots and processes have been as important as the progress we’ve made in that first year,” said Primark Cares CEO Lynne Walker.
“A year ago we promised to change the way we make and source our clothes. We are committed to rethinking our business processes. We have deliberately set ourselves ambitious goals for the period up to 2030. We’ve spent the past year investing in and growing our training, exploring new ways of working within our own organization and with suppliers and partners to support these changes. It’s been challenging at times and we know we’re just getting started, but after a year we’re more determined than ever to make more sustainable fashion affordable for everyone,” adds Walker.
More sustainable materials
In May, Primark announced an expansion of its Primark Sustainable Cotton Program (PSCP). According to this, 275,000 farmers are to be trained in more sustainable cultivation methods by 2023; by then, 150,000 farmers in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan had taken part, 80 percent of whom were women. In the latest sustainability report, Primark confirms the goal and reports that 252,800 cotton farmers have participated so far. In addition, the discounter emphasizes that “this program of a textile retailer has established itself as the largest of its kind and has prevailed”.
Currently, 40 percent of all cotton garments sold at Primark are made from recycled, organic or PSCP-derived cotton; It was 27 percent when the Primark Cares Strategy was introduced. The goal is to have all garments made from recycled or more sustainable materials by 2030. Primark defines more sustainable materials as materials where efforts are made to reduce the environmental impact.
design process
A new circular design training program was implemented for 24 product team members and six suppliers and expanded over the next 12 months.
In addition, 43 repair workshops were held across the UK and Ireland to raise awareness among customers and colleagues that they wanted to keep and wear their clothes longer and through the workshops be able to do so.
Textile return boxes are now offered in all stores in the UK, Ireland, Germany and Austria, representing 65 per cent of all stores.
Less CO2 and single-use plastic
Primark has reduced carbon emissions from its own operations (Scope 1 & 2) by 22.9% compared to 2018/19 and established a packaging competence center to develop ways to reduce single-use plastic and non-clothing waste by 2027 to reduce.
Hangers make up about 65 percent of Primark’s total single-use plastic volume. This year, a new strategy was developed to switch to 100 percent recycled materials for all hangers wherever possible. In addition, as many remaining hangers as possible should be reused or recycled, so that all hangers can become part of a circular system.
“Since the introduction of Primark Cares last year, we have diverted 95 percent of the waste we produce from our direct operations away from landfill. Clear guidelines have been developed that explain how we treat and manage each type of waste that we produce. We provide our employees with extensive training so that they all know how to properly dispose of waste,” explains Primark.
people and wages
To obtain new or updated Global Living Wage Coalition benchmarks for four of Primark’s sourcing markets (Bangladesh, Cambodia, Turkey and Vietnam), the company commissioned research in conjunction with the Anker Research Institute.
Four new exchange networks on inclusion and support were also launched. Employees should use these to discuss, represent and shape approaches and thoughts on neurodiversity, disabilities, cultural diversity, gender and LGBTQIA+.
Primark is also active locally and supports, for example, a project that addresses the mental health of garment workers in India. “I’ve worked in the apparel industry for the past 25 years, but working with Primark was different. It’s very rare for a brand to go beyond its code of conduct, and rarer still for a brand to invest in an untested measure. The success of the MySpace project is a result of the risk Primark was willing to take to improve employee well-being and create a lasting impact for workers,” comments Bobby Joseph, Director of Community Health Services of the Occupational Health Service at St. John’s Medical College in Bangalore.
Sustainability at Primark in numbers
Primark had revenues of just under £7.7 billion (almost €9 billion) for the period and employed a total of 72,000 people. The company operates around 408 stores in 14 countries and has 883 Tier 1 factories (those that produce finished goods) in 26 countries. These employ around 630,000 people.
In 2021, Primark conducted 2,400 audits across its supply chain, which would equate to three visits per factory using the figures above. 61 employees at Primark’s headquarters deal with the topic of sustainability and ethics or 130 team members in the twelve most important sourcing markets. These work with more than 40 external partners in key sourcing markets on programs that make a social impact, and 30 in eight manufacturing countries that support garment workers in more than 800 factories.