John Lewis has unveiled a host of green measures in a new plan to help combat the climate crisis. And one of its pledges is for the introduction of 'buy back' or 'take back' scheme across all product categories by 2025.
The Partnership, which is owned by its employees, has released a report entitled Our Plan For Nature focussed on the measures it can take to tackle sustainability issues. These include energy and resource use, with packaging and longevity of products being given special consideration.
In the report, it says: "If we throw less away – food, products or packaging – fewer raw materials and less energy will be needed to replace things and the natural world can only benefit."
The Partnership says it has "doubled down" on pledges to "protect and restore" nature.
"This includes a range of new commitments and initiatives to significantly reduce the impact of Waitrose and John Lewis’s commercial activity on the natural world."
It says that it's acting on information from leading climate experts that global greenhouse gas emissions must peak before 2025 to limit global warming to the recommended 1.5°C, and be reduced by 43% by 2030.
"Achieving this requires a fundamental change to the way all industries operate and the John Lewis Partnership feels passionately that investing in nature restoration across its supply chain is the most impactful way it can make a difference."
Marija Rompani, Director of Ethics & Sustainability, said: “We all know that we can’t exist without nature, it is essential for our survival and it will play a vital role in solving the problem of climate change. We can’t solve one without the other, the crises of nature loss and climate change are inextricably linked.
"And yet, the UK currently languishes in the bottom 10% of global countries for its abundance of nature. That’s unacceptable and given the tiny window in which we have to get this right, delaying action is simply not an option.
“This is why we’re going back to our roots and focusing our efforts on protecting and restoring nature. Whether it’s eliminating fossil fuel use across our transport operations, investing millions in conservation projects in regions where we source our products, or helping our farmers make the transition to net zero, we are acting where we can make the biggest impact.
"And our principles will apply to everything we sell, including our entry level Essential Waitrose and John Lewis Anyday ranges - ensuring products made with sustainable values are accessible to all our customers.”
The new commitments included investing £2m to fund ecosystem protection and regeneration projects in the UK and India through a new and exclusive partnership with WWF. It has also committed to zero deforestation in the sourcing of key commodities across Waitrose and John Lewis own-brand product supply chains.
It says it will ensure all key raw materials in own-brand products will be from more sustainable or recycled sources by 2025. And it pledges to fund sustainable water management programmes in three key fresh-produce sourcing areas.
It has undertaken to incorporate natural elements and design principles into all key new-build and renovation projects, including Build to Rent projects that the Partnership is involved in. The Partnership intends to reduce its GHG emissions across its farm at Leckford with the aim to be net zero well ahead of its 2035 commitment.
And finally, it says it will develop more rental, resale and return opportunities, with an ambition to offer more sustainable ownership options for its customers across key areas including fashion, home and technology.
