New Look has published its 2024 Sustainability Report, providing a comprehensive update on its ‘Kind to Our Core’ strategy, which was first launched in January 2022. The report highlights New Look’s achievements in reducing emissions, diverting textiles from landfills, and setting new goals for traceability and recycled materials, among other sustainability efforts.
Emissions Reduction and Progress
A major highlight of the report is New Look’s progress on its emissions reduction targets, which have received approval from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for alignment with a 1.5°C climate pathway. Key achievements include:
- A 22% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions since FY22, putting the retailer on track to exceed its near-term SBTi goals.
- A 12% overall carbon reduction over the same period.
- Scope 3 emissions, which cover the value chain, have been reduced by 11% compared to 2022.
- 48% and 47% reductions in carbon and water footprints respectively, compared to a 2019 baseline.
- The diversion of 212 tonnes of textiles from landfill this year alone.
New Look has updated its sustainability targets, including increasing the minimum percentage of recycled content in synthetics to 30%, up from 25%, and enhancing the traceability of cotton.
New Partnerships for Industry Collaboration
To further its sustainability mission, New Look has announced two new partnerships:
- Neighbourly Partnership: Aligning with the “positive local impact” pillar of its strategy, New Look has partnered with giving platform Neighbourly, with each store supporting a local charity. This partnership will benefit 350 charities across the UK, and New Look staff will be engaged in paid volunteering days to further strengthen community ties.
- IndustriALL Global Union Agreement: In a significant move, New Look has signed a new agreement with IndustriALL Global Union as part of the Action Collaboration Transformation (ACT) initiative. This groundbreaking agreement supports collective bargaining and fair wages for garment workers in Cambodia, representing a major step towards improving labour conditions in the garment industry.
Responsible Business and Circular Product
New Look continues to prioritise ethical business practices and a circular economy approach. Some of its key initiatives include:
- Actively tracking vulnerable groups in its supply chain and addressing risks like gender-based violence and modern slavery, in partnership with the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF).
- The appointment of a Human Rights Manager to strengthen due diligence activities across its value chain.
- A commitment to lower-impact fibres, with 77% of New Look’s clothing featuring at least one sustainable attribute, a 14% increase from the previous year.
- Collaboration with the Leeds Institute of Textile and Colour on a Durability Research project to improve clothing longevity.
- Contribution to an industry-backed White Paper, unveiled at the UKFT Sustainability Conference 2024 in London.
Inclusion and Local Impact
New Look’s efforts in fostering an inclusive workplace and creating a positive local impact were also highlighted in the report. The company has established successful Inclusion and Wellbeing ally groups, with over 150 members. Additionally, New Look has invested in a new people platform in partnership with Dayforce to better capture insights and support its equality, diversity, and inclusion (ED&I) goals.
In terms of community engagement, despite economic challenges, New Look’s colleagues and customers donated more than £350k to charity last year, with £310k raised by local store teams for charities in their communities.
Looking Ahead to 2025
Sue Fairley, Head of Sustainability at New Look, expressed pride in the company’s progress:
“We are two years on from the launch of our sustainability strategy and I am very proud of the progress we have made across each focus area including the approval of our Science Based Targets, our new partnership with Neighbourly, and our ground-breaking agreement with IndustriALL. ‘Kind to Our Core’ is embedded across all of New Look’s operations and we are beginning to see strong results. The approval of our Science Based Targets was a huge milestone for our business, and we are well on track to meet our targets. Looking ahead to 2025, we will continue to drive forward our strategy and work with our partners to ensure we are operating in the most sustainable – and ‘kind’ – way possible.”
