LONDON, Sept. 15 : Reuters - Primark, one of Europe's largest fast fashion chain, has vowed to reduce its environmental impact without increasing prices by using more durable materials, making clothing more durable and improving wages for workers.
With environmental campaigners singling out the fashion industry for its heavy use of water and chemicals, major brands are coming under pressure to adapt supply chains and address a culture that has led to millions of items ending up in landfills.
Primark, which sells more than a billion items including jumpers and jeans for as little as $7 each a year for as little as 7 pounds $10 each, said its task was to make sustainable fashion available to all, not just those who can afford it.
We believe sustainability shouldn't be priced at a premium that only a minority can afford, CEO Paul Marchant said, echoing rivals such as H&M and Zara which have also set out plans to improve the use of sustainable raw materials.
Many environmental campaigners are sceptical about green pledges from brands, believing they are driven by a need for good PR and that the industry requires a wider culture change instead. Primark says its sheer size is meant it can make a difference.
Primark, owned by Associated British Foods in 1969 in Britain before taking the islands by storm with its ultra-low prices that have led droves of shoppers to emerge from stores clutching its trademark white paper bags full of clothes. It is now available in 14 countries, including the United States.
While the British company had previously joined industry efforts on the environment, Wednesday's statement marks the first time it has published its own measurable targets.
Under the plan, a team of staff will work in its factories which it does not own, to improve energy efficiency levels and promote the use of renewable power. It will aim to eliminate single-use plastic and continue the switch to farming practices that use less water and fewer chemicals.
It plans to make durable parts of clothes by 2025, create them recyclable by design by 2027 and make all its clothes from recycled materials by 2030.
On top of those changes, it also plans to work with factories and rivals that use the same sites to improve wages.
Worker conditions in the textile industry have come under the spotlight since the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh in 2013 that killed more than 1,000 workers, with campaigners questioning how brands like Primark produce such low prices.