Protecting Our Planet

We are dependent on our planet. That’s why we’re working hard to reduce our impact on the environment.

This means minimizing the environmental impact of our own operations and our supply chains. We’re committed to halving carbon emissions by 2030 throughout Primark’s entire value chain—from the farms where raw materials are sourced to production and manufacturing, to when a customer buys a Primark product and takes it home.

The large majority of our carbon comes from operations in our supply chains.

We’re also committed to ensuring our products are manufactured in an environmentally sustainable way. This means complying with environmental laws in every country where we directly operate. We’re also working to double down on waste, eliminating all single-use plastic by 2027. And we’re working with the farmers on our Primark Sustainable Cotton Programme to train them in more regenerative farming techniques, through reduced water use and reduced use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in order to improve and restore soil health and water quality. By 2023 we'll have developed a Regenerative Cotton Code, partnered with Cotton Connect.

We have a dedicated Environmental Sustainability team, working on the ground to raise the profile of environmental issues with our suppliers and their factories. Their work covers many areas: how raw materials like cotton are sourced, the environmental impact of manufacturing processes in factories and our commitment to recycling wherever possible. It all makes a difference.

Supporting sustainable suppliers

Our Code of Conduct is the key tool for driving improvement in our supply chains. It states that “Suppliers must comply with all applicable local laws and regulations regarding the protection and preservation of the environment.”

Part of our commitment to becoming more sustainable is encouraging others to come along with us, including the suppliers we work with and their factories. We’ll set out clear expectations for suppliers. And our sustainability teams will provide guidance and support on how they can reduce carbon emissions and manage other environmental areas.

We recognize that reducing our impact on the environment needs to incorporate every aspect of our supply chains. Primark’s Environmental Policy outlines our commitment to environmental sustainability. The six focus areas in the environmental policy are the result of a comprehensive assessment of Primark’s environmental impacts. They're used to help inform our strategic decisionmaking. We regularly report on our progress on these six focus areas in our Environmental Performance Reports and we’re committed to reviewing our results and objectives annually.

In January 2020, we launched our environmental sustainability supplier guidelines. These inform our suppliers about our environmental requirements in our six focus areas, including responsible sourcing. Suppliers are required to communicate our requirements specified in the guidelines upstream to the lower tiers of their supply chains. Our In-Country Teams also conduct training sessions for suppliers, helping spread the word about best practices. This process is incredibly valuable as we obtain feedback directly from factories, helping us improve our programs and processes.

To find out more about our environmental practices, please see Planet.