REINVENTING RETAIL:

OUR PLAN TO CREATE A MORE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

SUSTAINABILITY UNDERPINS EVERYTHING WE DO AT SELFRIDGES – IT’S BEEN AT THE HEART OF OUR BUSINESS FOR MORE THAN A DECADE, FROM BANNING FUR IN 2005 TO REMOVING ALL PLASTIC-BASED COSMETIC GLITTER FROM SALE IN OUR STORES IN 2021.

REINVENTING RETAIL:

OUR PLAN TO CREATE A MORE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

SUSTAINABILITY UNDERPINS EVERYTHING WE DO AT SELFRIDGES – IT’S BEEN AT THE HEART OF OUR BUSINESS FOR MORE THAN A DECADE, FROM BANNING FUR IN 2005 TO REMOVING ALL PLASTIC-BASED COSMETIC GLITTER FROM SALE IN OUR STORES IN 2021.

Now, more than ever, we must double down on our efforts to reinvent retail with sustainability at its heart and a way of working which is regenerative for humans and nature.

– Alannah Weston, Selfridges Group Chairman

WHAT IS PROJECT EARTH?

With a vision to reinvent retail, we launched our sustainability strategy, Project Earth, in 2020, with a bold commitment to change the way we shop and the way we do business. Built on three themes – driving a transition to more sustainable materials, exploring new business models, and challenging the mindsets of our partners and customers as well as our own teams – Project Earth is underpinned by our science-based targets as we look to a net-zero future.

Watch our film below to find out how Project Earth is helping to change the way we shop and change the way we do business one year in.

From Project Ocean to Project Earth

We launched Project Ocean in 2011 as our long-term partnership with the Zoological Society of London to help protect our precious oceans from overfishing and plastic pollution. Project Ocean included a commitment to never sell or serve endangered fish in our stores to banning single-use plastic water bottles (find out more about our sustainability legacy here). Today, we’re continuing this commitment through Project Earth.

Our 2023 Project Earth report

Three years since the launch of Project Earth, our evergreen sustainability strategy which aims to change the way we shop and do business, we’re sharing our second annual sustainability report. Read the report to learn more about what we’ve achieved so far, the challenges we’ve faced, plus our plans and ambitious new targets for the future of planet-positive retail.

Read our 2023 Project Earth report

MATERIALS

EVERYTHING WE BUILD, BUY AND SELL WILL MEET OUR ENVIRONMENTAL AND ETHICAL STANDARDS BY 2030

This builds on our previous commitment that by 2025 the most environmentally impactful materials will come from certified, sustainable sources. Read more about our materials commitments here.

We are making it easier for our customers to shop more sustainably. Today, we have over 8,000 items eligible for our Project Earth Edit – a curation of our earth-conscious products.

What’s next?

Buying better products from suppliers we trust

Sustainability starts with transparency, so we’ll continue to work closely with our suppliers and partners to ensure they disclose their sourcing practices through our questionnaires. We’ll make sure they have measures in place to meet our Ethical Trade Requirements too.

Showcasing better products

We want to have the same level of access to product and sourcing information for our concession brands as we do for our ‘own bought’ brands. As a priority, we’re now working directly with those concession brands to find a solution that will bring the labelling our customers recognise to every eligible brand we stock.

Less packaging in transit

The significant growth in our digital business in the past year has meant more delivery miles and more transit packaging.

Now, we’re continuing to work with our supply chain and partners to find better solutions, such as trialling ‘naked click & collect’ (all the beauty of your purchase just minus the box) to remove unnecessary packaging from in-store collections.

We will also be bold in setting new targets for packaging and carbon distribution by the end of 2021.

MODELS

45% OF TRANSACTIONS WILL COME FROM CIRCULAR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES BY 2030

RESELFRIDGES makes it easier than ever to shop circular - including resale, rental, repair, refill and recycle.

Shop circular with us.

What’s next?

Making resale more accessible

At the heart of Selfridges is the belief that everyone is welcome, but we heard feedback from our customers that our resale offer was inaccessibly expensive. In response, we’re continuing to include a wider range of price points in our resale offer to make it more accessible to more customers.

Advancing our repair offer

We believe that a strong repair service is an essential part of a circular model. However, a lack of insight into how our customers are interacting with this offer currently, plus a lack of insight into how our brands offer their own repair services in-house, means there is more we can do.

We are now actively working with our brand partners to collate and review data on all repair services that take place within Selfridges so we can develop the customer experience and advance our offer.

MINDSETS

WE WILL BUILD AN INCLUSIVE RETAIL CULTURE IN WHICH TEAMS, COMMUNITIES AND CUSTOMERS PUT PEOPLE AND PLANET FIRST IN THEIR DECISION MAKING

Selfridges exists to make the world brighter; we are convinced the power of collective optimism can kick start radical change towards a sustainable future for our people, our communities and our customers.

NET ZERO

WE WILL ACHIEVE NET-ZERO CARBON EMISSIONS ACROSS THE BUSINESS BY 2040

Our Project Earth strategy and Materials, Models and Mindsets targets are all underpinned by our commitment to Science Based Targets (scopes 1,2 and 3) and achieving net-zero carbon by 2040, as a signatory to The Climate Pledge.

Our stores are powered by 100% green energy (electricity and gas)* and we are focusing on driving down waste and our energy consumption year on year – we have retained the Carbon Trust standard for energy, water and waste since 2014.

Keeping products in circulation for longer and ensuring we sell better and lower impact products are both critical to achieving our net-zero target.

*With the exception of Manchester Exchange Square, which is landlord managed.

FOOD

CHANGING THE WAY WE EAT FOR PEOPLE, ANIMALS AND THE PLANET

We’re driving the transition in our Foodhalls and restaurants to ensure that everything from palm oil to packaging materials come from certified, sustainable sources.

Read more about our materials and food commitments here.

What’s next?

Reducing waste and buying better

Meat - We believe in “less meat, but better meat”. We are working with our suppliers and brand partners to make sure that the meat we sell at Selfridges comes from certified organic farms, while also working to provide more meat-free and plant-based alternatives in our Foodhalls and restaurants.

Fish - We ensure no endangered fish are sold or served at Selfridges and we only sell hand-dived scallops. Each piece of fish sold at Selfridges will continue to be individually rated by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) Good Fish Guide, a simple tool that assesses the sustainability of seafood based on the species and where and how it has been caught or farmed.

Cocoa - Our goal is for all cocoa-based ingredients used and sold at Selfridges to come from globally recognised, more sustainable sources such as Rainforest Alliance/UTZ, Fairtrade and Organic. In the meantime, we’re encouraging our suppliers and brand partners to have a publicly available responsible-sourcing policy and traceable supply chains to help mitigate the risks of deforestation and address human rights abuse.

Palm Oil - All palm oil will be certified to the standards set by the Roundtable on Responsible Palm Oil (RSPO). In the lead-up to our target deadline, we are encouraging our partners and suppliers to make a time-bound public commitment to ensure zero deforestation in their supply chains.

Plastic packaging - We’ve already banned the sale of plastic water bottles, carbonated drink bottles, straws, and balloons at Selfridges. Our new target is for all our own purchased packaging that is used and sold to be designed for reduction, reuse and recycling, and we will continue to explore refill solutions such as offering water fountains outside of our stores.

Reducing food waste - We’re working with amazing suppliers to create ‘less waste, more taste’ products – from marmalade from juicing waste to semolina cake from La Tua pasta, and cheese toasties from cheese counter cuts.

SUPPORTED BY OUR AMBITIOUS BUSINESS-WIDE CARBON-REDUCTION TARGETS

We have committed to Science Based Targets (scopes 1,2 and 3) and achieving net-zero carbon across our business by 2040 as a signatory to The Climate Pledge. Our stores are powered by 100% green energy (electricity and gas)* and we are focussing on driving down waste and our energy consumption year on year – we have retained the Carbon Trust standard for energy, water and waste since 2014.

*With the exception of Manchester Exchange Square, which is landlord managed.

What’s next?

Acting on climate change

We know that we need to change the way we shop and the way we do business to urgently address the climate emergency. That’s why, we want to encourage a coming together to co-create real change. We’re continuing to look towards net-zero carbon across our business by 2040 as a signatory to The Climate Pledge.

Making our business more diverse and inclusive

Last year, we launched our new diversity board with the aim of making our business more inclusive. In response to feedback, we introduced inclusive leadership training to equip our managers to have open and honest equity-centred conversations across our business.

Now, we plan to roll this training out even further. We’ll also review the results of our internal culture and inclusivity assessment, and set targets for improvement later in 2021.

OUR POLICIES

At Selfridges, we strive to ensure that all those who work with our business recognise and adhere to our policies so that together we can minimise our impact on the environment while creating positive change for society. To find out more about our policies:

Read our policies