Burberry gets Dow Jones sustainability accolade

Sandra Halliday

Опубликовано
17 сент. 2018 г.

Burberry may have come under fire recently for its destruction of nearly £30 million worth of product, but the company is clearly doing plenty right on the sustainability front as it’s the leading luxury brand in the 2018 Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI).

It has been included for the fourth consecutive year in the ‘Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods’ sector and said its score reflects its “commitment to drive positive change," as well as its "early progress” towards its responsibility goals to 2022.

The index is a benchmark one for those investors who take sustainability issues into account during their decision-making investment process. It evaluates economic, environmental and social factors, so being included really is a big deal for companies.

Burberry which is also a constituent of a number of other ethical/sustainable indexes and initiatives, launched its new responsibility agenda, Creating Tomorrow’s Heritage, last year.

As part of that it aims to invent new approaches to revaluing waste, while becoming carbon-neutral in its own operations, and has launched a five-year partnership with sustainable luxury company Elvis & Kresse to transform 120 tonnes of leather offcuts into new products. 

It also want to “ensure 100% of Burberry’s products have more than one attribute that drives positive change,” which means social and environmental improvements achieved at the raw material or manufacturing stage of its supply chain. 

And it's working to support one million people in the communities that sustain Burberry’s business and the wider luxury industry through global community programmes such as its work with Oxfam and Pur Projet in Afghanistan, to develop a more inclusive and sustainable cashmere industry.

All of which made the earlier news that it had destroyed more than £28 million worth of unwanted products in the past year, and that the value of its waste products had risen 50% in just two years, rather embarrassing. However, this month it said it would stop destroying unsold product at the same as it announced that it would end the use of fur in its collections.

Of its new sustainability accolade, Leanne Wood, Burberry’s Chief People, Strategy and Corporate Affairs Officer said: “We are incredibly proud to be the leading luxury brand in the 2018 Dow Jones Sustainability Index. We are passionate about finding ways to be socially and environmentally responsible in everything we do, from investing in the communities at the heart of our business to creating innovative ways to tackle the most pressing issues faced by our industry. We will continue to expand these efforts as we work towards our responsibility goals to 2022 and beyond.”