Burberry on Sustainability
Burberry claims to be taking steps towards sustainability and help in creating a better environment.
Three of the following things mark the chapters of sustainability in Burberry.
Creating Tomorrow's Heritage
In 2017, Burberry launched the responsibility agenda “Creating Tomorrow’s Heritage”, a five-year programme focusing on three ambitious goals:
a. Support one million people in the communities that sustain the wider luxury industry
b. Ensure 100% of Burberry’s products have more than one positive attribute by 2022
c. Invent new approaches to revaluing waste created in the production of luxury goods, whilst becoming carbon neutral in its own operations
Burberry has a longstanding commitment to sustainability, with social and environmental programmes in place for more than 15 years and its latest five-year Responsibility Agenda covering its products, global operations and the communities that sustain the luxury industry.
During 2018/19, Burberry reduced its market-based emissions by 43% and procured 58% of its total energy (including 68% of its electricity) from renewable sources. Burberry is now carbon neutral across the Americas region, its EMEIA retail stores and UK operations, and aims to be 100% carbon neutral by 2022. Building on this, Burberry recently set two new, ambitious climate goals approved by the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi) for its own operations and extended supply chain.
Burberry’s Spring/Summer 2020 show during London Fashion Week was certified as carbon neutral. Burberry offset its impacts, such as the flights of guests travelling to London specifically for the show and the build and production of the event, through VSC-certified REDD+ projects which prevent deforestation and conserve tropical rainforest in the Brazilian Amazon.
Driving a more circular economy for fashion is central to Burberry’s sustainability agenda and as part of this Burberry continues to expand ways to reuse, repair, donate and recycle products and materials. A founding member of the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment which aims to eradicate plastic waste and pollution by 2025, Burberry is working to eliminate problematic or unnecessary plastic packaging. This includes ensuring plastic in packaging can be easily reused, recycled or composted and circulating any plastic packaging so that it can be made into new packaging or products. Recently, Burberry launched new sustainable packaging made from 30m recycled coffee cups, with the resulting product fully recyclable and certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
Burberry is also committed to supporting the people and communities that sustain the luxury industry through youth inspiration, community cohesion and social and economic empowerment programmes. In the UK, The Burberry Foundation has engaged 65,000 students and teachers in Yorkshire through school workshops, teacher training, guest speaker sessions and work experience at Burberry. In Italy, 18,000 people have benefitted from new youth mentoring programmes and better access to community support services in Tuscany. In Afghanistan, the Burberry Foundation is working with Oxfam and PUR Projet to create a more equitable and sustainable cashmere industry, with 7,000 people benefitting from training on animal husbandry and harvesting so far.
Burberry signing the Fashion Pact
Burberry is a signatory of The Fashion Pact, a global alliance between 32 of the world's leading fashion companies to tackle climate change. Through the Pact, we will build on our work over the last decade to limit global warming, protect the world's oceans and restore biodiversity.
The Fashion Pact will be presented to heads of state during the G7 meeting at Biarritz from 24-26 August.
The Fashion Pact's objectives draw on the Science Based Targets initiative, which focuses on action in three areas for safeguarding the planet:
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Stop global warming: by creating and deploying an action plan for achieving the objective of zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, in order to keep global warming below a 1.5°C pathway between now and 2100.
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Restore biodiversity: by achieving objectives that use Science-Based Targets to restore natural ecosystems and protect species.
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Protect the oceans: by reducing the fashion industry’s negative impact on the world’s oceans through practical initiatives, such as gradually removing the usage of single-use plastics.
ECONYL- Sustainable Nylon
Burberry has launched a new capsule collection crafted with ECONYL®, a sustainable nylon yarn made from regenerated fishing nets, fabric scraps and industrial plastic. The ECONYL® capsule, which includes a reinvention of Burberry’s lightweight classic car coat, is just one example of the 50 disruptions Burberry is making throughout its supply chain to create a more circular fashion industry.
Pam Batty, VP Corporate Responsibility at Burberry, said of the launch: “Exploring and using innovative materials that foster circularity is central to creating a more sustainable fashion industry. We are proud to use the ECONYL® yarn in this collection because it shows how we can actively tackle a problem like plastic waste and create beautiful, luxury products at the same time. This collection is just one of the ways Burberry is actively disrupting and improving every stage of how we create our products because we know our industry can play a key role in building a more sustainable future through science and innovation”.
Giulio Bonazzi, CEO at Aquafil said: “We are delighted to collaborate with Burberry for this capsule collection. We believe innovative fibres like ECONYL® regenerated nylon are the future and are proud to support brands who use our yarns, transforming waste into incredible designs and raising the profile and possibilities of a more circular fashion system.”