#Retail & Brands

2014-09-09

M&S strikes landmark deal to buy biomethane gas certificates

Marks & Spencer (M&S) will go on with reducing its carbon footprint (c) 2014 M&S

Marks & Spencer (M&S) has agreed a landmark deal with Future Biogas for the purchase of 35,000 Mega-Watt hours of biomethane certificates, a move which will reduce its carbon footprint by over 6,400 tonnes and source the equivalent amount of energy to heat 15 M&S Simply Food stores all year round.

Biomethane gas is 50 per cent more carbon efficient than average gas supplies and is generated by anaerobic digestion, fuelled by farm waste. The biomethane gas will be produced at the Vulcan Anaerobic Digestion (AD) plant near Doncaster using break crops (non-commercial crops used for soil regeneration) from farms across Yorkshire and the North East.

The gas is then pumped into the national grid. M&S’ deal with Future Biogas funds the production and M&S benefits from the carbon reduction through the certification scheme.

It also provides significant revenues for farmers, giving break crops a commercial route to market not previously available.

Gio Patellaro, M&S Head of Energy Supply & Risk said: “Over the past couple of years, M&S has worked tirelessly to improve its carbon efficiency and innovate in sustainability. As the first UK retailer to buy biomethane to use in this way, we are blazing a trail in the market place that we hope others will follow. With the help of Future Biogas, this deal takes us one step further in our commitment to ensure 50% of the energy used in M&S buildings comes from certified green biomethane sources by 2020.”

Since the inception of its “Plan A” programme, M&S has been a leader and innovator in supporting a renewable energy generation, including contracting directly with renewable generators under its award winning Price Guarantee Agreement structure.

Philipp Lukas, Future Biogas Managing Director said:“We are thrilled to be working with Marks & Spencer on this exciting and new venture. We look forward to supplying biomethane to M&S to help them deliver their market leading commitment to carbon reduction.”

M&S launches clothing repair service to give quality clothes ‘another life’ through plan a

Today, Marks & Spencer has announced it will offer a dedicated clothing repair service for the first time. With new insight from M&S* revealing only 10% of the population is confident enough to repair clothing themselves and 60% of consumers looking for retailers to offer more services which support them to lower their carbon footprint, M&S is partnering with clothing repair and alterations experts, SOJO.

Recover™ secures multi-year recycled cotton agreement with H&M

Recover™ has signed a multi-year agreement with H&M to support the integration of its recycled cotton fiber, RCotton, for use in H&M’s products. Since early 2024, H&M and Recover™ have collaborated on product development, which now enables scaled commercial introduction of Recover™ mechanically recycled cotton into H&M’s collections.

GORE-TEX® KIDSWEAR launches innovative membership scheme for kids’ jackets

With its revolutionary new membership model, GORE-TEX® Kidswear now offers families a simple, flexible and sustainable way of kitting out their children in top-quality jackets. It is aimed at the parents of children aged between five and ten and kicks off with a choice of functional winter jackets.

DYNEEMA® and NP Aerospace advance personal protection for military servicewomen

Dyneema®, owned by Avient Corporation, an innovator of materials solutions, is supplying its high-performance unidirectional (UD) materials to world-leading armor manufacturer NP Aerospace, enabling the production of armor systems designed specifically to fit the female body. With 2,000 new armor systems, including 4,000 plates, made in the United Kingdom (UK) and delivered in June 2026, this collaboration addresses a long-standing lack of high-quality personal protection specially built for female defense and security personnel.

Textile Exchange publishes comprehensive polyester LCA study

Textile Exchange has released a new Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study on polyester, providing detailed data on the environmental impacts of both virgin and recycled polyester production. The study aims to strengthen understanding across the fashion, textile and apparel industries and support more informed decision-making regarding polyester sourcing and production.