We’ve made reducing plastic a top priority: by reducing it in products and packaging, making it easier to recycle and giving it new life in take-back initiatives
Bags for life
Stylish and reusable… our latest fashion bag and food bag for life have been designed by artist Yinka Ilori, inspired by his memories of working at M&S, and pay tribute to the dreamer inside us all. Our fashion bag (made from 99% recycled materials) and our food bag for life (made from 100% recycled plastic – including the plastic from our own stores) are both designed to be reused time and time again.
Online packaging
We’ve made it easier for you to recycle the packaging of your online shopping. Our green bags are made from 100% recycled plastic, which is recyclable via our ‘take-back’ scheme at your local store, while our cardboard boxes can be put in your kerbside recycling. Click & Collect orders can now be fulfilled without packaging at selected stores – just remember to bring your own reusable bag!
Hangers
Since 2007, our customers have helped us keep more than 1 billion hangers out of landfill by leaving them at our till points or bringing them back to M&S stores for reuse – and we have plans to do more. Our jeans hangers were created with sustainability in mind. They contain 70% less plastic than the previous version, and are designed for reuse using clever circular design.
Refill stations
A washing-up liquid bottle for life? We’re making it happen! Selected trial stores are piloting a circular system of different laundry and cleaning products, where customers can return their empty M&S refilled bottles to be washed and refilled, ready to be sold again. As the cycle continues, waste will reduce.
Plastic recycling
You can recycle most plastics from any product in our M&S stores. From hard-to-recycle items such as biscuit packets and sweet wrappers (excluding beauty) to products not bought at M&S, just place them into our plastic recycling units in store and we’ll take care of the rest.
Carrier bags
We were the first retailer to charge for single-use plastic bags in 2008 and, since then, our carrier bag usage has declined by 90%. We no longer offer single-use shopping bags, and have also removed plastic single-use small produce bags from our Foodhalls. For those times when you don’t have your bag with you, we sell Bags for Life made from recycled plastic, including the plastic from our own stores, which you can return for replacement or recycling when they wear out.
