Recycling and the circular economy

Our Recycling and the Circular Economy section covers:

Recycling and the Circular Economy
  • Continuous improvement with regards to recycling, reuse and circularity
  • Our membership and advocacy for (WRAP) Textiles 2030 initiative
  • Our achievements on eliminating ‘waste to landfill’, including third-party verified 'Zero Waste to Landfill' accreditation for major, direct operational controlled sites
  • Details of our colleague training programme (#IAMSustainable), now live in 20 countries, adapted with region-specific content and language to maximize engagement, improving awareness and advocacy of recycling and circularity education across our Group

Within the section, we also assess how we reduce the impact of packaging – from online packaging to bags used in stores, we provide information on how we utilise fully recycled (and recyclable) packaging, while also ‘designing out waste’ via our famous JD draw-string bags, which represent one of the most visual examples of great design encouraging re-use.

We demonstrate how we have considered re-use vs degradable and compostable options, and the importance of prioritising functionality, purpose and data on environmental performance of packaging materials over the pursuit of ‘quick-win’ claims relating to changing materials.

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More information about what we are doing to mitigate our impact on the environment can be found in our Annual Report.

Our progress – recycling, reuse and circularity

Our Group commitments to recycling and the principles of ‘circularity’ extend beyond seeking recognition for achieving corporate standards

Our membership and support for the Waste Resources and Action Programme (WRAP) Textiles 2030 will play a key role in our continued progress towards ‘designing out’ waste and adopting circular economy principles

Recycling, reuse and circularity Reducing the impact of packaging – online customers Customer education and engagement

JD icon

We are conscious of the positive impact that resource has on reducing not just waste, but carbon emissions associated with manufacturing and logistics.

Over the last few years our Group has:

  • Achieved and retained ‘Zero waste to landfill status’ at our primary global Distribution Centre in Rochdale (UK) and in our largest UK/European office
  • Recycled over 5,000 tonnes of cardboard per year, contributing to the ever-growing demand for paper and card recyclate. In addition we have saved over 21 tonnes of paper by simply reducing the till receipt length
  • Developed a colleague training programme (#IAMSustainable) to improve awareness and develop recycling and circularity education across our Group
  • Prevented waste and lowered emissions by using ‘circular’ strategies between our stores and Distribution centre. We return, fixing and re-use items ranging from hangers to plastic tote boxes to mannequins
  • Our customer website educates on the key principles of, and ideas to support the re-use, repair and recycling of, unwanted or end of life footwear and apparel

In summary, our approach to this area has transitioned from legacy ‘waste management’ and compliance, to one of strategic elimination of waste, and continuously reviewing our supply chain for opportunities for reducing or reusing materials and assets

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Plastic

  • When using plastic, our largest group businesses use recycled material for online dispatch packaging
  • We avoid using virgin plastic wherever possible. In doing so, we achieved an embodied carbon saving of over 330 tonnes CO2e,
  • We incorporated improved customer messaging to our online packaging, encouraging reuse and recycling
  • We provide customers with details of recycled content percentage (typically 97% +)

Cardboard

  • Our cardboard internet packaging is made from 100% recycled material and is 100% recyclable
  • Our latest card packaging features significantly improved customer messaging on recycling and re-use
  • By adjusting the size and packing of our boxes we made our orders 38% more space efficient
  • By adjusting the size of our packaging, we reduced deliveries by over 1,000 pallets per year, leading to additional reductions in carbon emissions associated with delivery
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To achieve long-term environmental benefits, we believe that consumers should be provided with more information and opportunity to extend the life of products via re-use, repair and recycling.

Support from consumers requires contributions from a variety of sources – from brand labelling to retailer support and (most importantly) by local and national government investing in appropriate recycling infrastructure.

From the Group perspective, we plan to increase the promotion of educational tools such as the ‘wheel’ infographic that we use to support our Private Label products

Product

Recycle Wheel

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