Responsible Sourcing
We train our buyers and work with our brands, concessions, restaurants, logistics and other suppliers to continuously improve environmental, labour and animal welfare practices and transparency across the supply chain. We work to ensure we are aligned and up to date with best practice initiatives including the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange and the Sustainable Apparel Coalition.
Materials Targets
To truly transform our business to protect our precious land and oceans, we are working with our brands and suppliers to transform our supply chains by addressing the environmental and human impacts of the products that we buy and sell.
In 2020, we started a process of identifying and tracking materials in our business
which can be at risk of poor ethical trade and/or environmental practices, such as
cotton, man made cellulosic fibres and leather. Having identified these ‘priority’
materials, we are working to increase the percentage of these materials that come from
recycled and/or certified sustainable sources year on year. This will enable further
traceability in our supply chain and will directly address multiple social and
environmental issues in lower tiers, such as raw material
sourcing and production.
To read more on each of our commitments in detail, click here.
Carbon Commitments
In 2020, we became the first retailer in Ireland to have our carbon reduction targets verified by the Science Based Targets initiative. From 2020-2030 we will reduce our carbon emissions across our estate (scope 1 & 2) by 50.4% and in our supply chain (scope 3) by 15%, from a baseline of 2018.
Additionally we committed to significantly accelerating our target to achieve net-zero carbon across our business to 2040 by signing the Climate Pledge. The Climate Pledge is a cross-sector collaboration co-founded by Amazon and Global Optimism to act on the climate emergency 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement.
Packaging
Our iconic Brown Thomas carrier bags are made from sustainable paper certified to Forest Stewardship Council and can be reused and fully recycled.
We have worked hard to eliminate unnecessary plastics from our packaging and now offer a full paper offering across our e-commerce packaging; replacing plastic bubble wrap with paper filler and using paper-based tape in place of plastic tape. Our teams are trained to reduce waste where possible; aiming to pack your products in the right size box each time.
All paper and cardboard used in our packaging is certified to Forest Stewardship Council, ensuring it is sourced from sustainably managed forests. It is also fully reusable and recyclable.
Did you know? We have removed plastic gift cards from our business, removing up to 2,500kg’s of plastic from circulation annually. Customers can now get their gift cards material free via e-gift card or lower impact FSC certified cardboard in-store.