DIY retail group Kingfisher said today that £5 billion of its £12 billion-plus annual sales comes from products it deems to be sustainable.
The B&Q and Screwfix parent company said sales of sustainable home products, which it lists as items such as LED lighting and chemical-free gardening products, as well as water-efficient taps and energy-efficient power tools, have jumped by 100% over the last ten years.
Whether a product is sustainable is often a matter of conjecture, of course, and what constitutes greener inventory is measured differently per retailer. Indeed, organisations are under growing scrutiny to avoid any form of greenwash when talking about sustainability, as reported by Green Retail World.
Kingfisher describes sustainable products as those which “help customers create more sustainable homes”.
Thierry Garnier, CEO of Kingfisher, said: “We’re seeing more demand from customers for sustainable products, and it has been a really exciting challenge for our teams to match that customer appetite with innovative products that help our customers save energy and money.
“There is more to do, but we are proud of the significant progress since last year, especially through our new carbon reduction initiatives, our sales of sustainable products and our extended commitment to help people living in unfit housing.”
He added: “Our ambition to lead the industry on responsible business practices is integral to our plan, ‘Powered by Kingfisher’. By uniting colleagues behind our responsible business ambitions and embedding our targets into our reward structures and governance processes, we are committed to use our knowledge, experience and scale to achieve positive change for all.”
Garnier was talking as Kingfisher published its latest responsible business report, ‘Our Home, Our World’, which reveals the business has established a 1.5 degree-aligned carbon reduction target, now approved by the Science Based Targets initiative.
A Rainforest Alliance partnership, announced in the last financial year, also aims to help Kingfisher deliver its commitment to become forest positive – creating more forests than it uses – by 2025.
The responsible business plan is overseen by a board-level committee and chaired by non-executive director, Sophie Gasperment, with members including Garnier, as well as chief offer & sourcing officer, Henri Solère, and chief people officer, Kate Seljeflot.
As part of the responsbility plan, a portion of the colleague bonus programme is now linked to performance against key responsible business priorities to incentivise action.
[Image credit: Kingfisher]
