Fashion marketplace ASOS has reduced carbon emissions per order by 30 per cent through the success of its Carbon 2020 strategy, which was launched in 2015 and finishes later this year. 

According to its annual carbon report, the business has seen three years straight of carbon reduction per order, as well as 18 per cent less emissions per customer delivery in the 2018-19 financial year and will be setting new targets later this year.

ASOS chief executive Nick Beighton said it was more important than ever for businesses to step up and take their environmental impact into account. The Carbon 2020 strategy helped the business to define how it would do that through the implementation of six key ambitions. 

“Those ambitions focussed on reducing emissions relating to our customer deliveries and returns, order packaging, energy efficiency, reducing energy consumption, and switching to renewable energy sources,” Beighton said. 

“In the next few months we’ll be setting out our ambition for the next ten years in line with what the science tells us is required, helping set us on a course for a sustainable, environmentally responsible future.”

The business also released data showing the proportion of its emissions coming from each of these six pillars, with delivery vastly outweighing the others. 

ASOS is just one of many retailers taking positive steps toward reducing its impact on the environment, with Kathmandu opening its first fully solar-powered store recently. 

The plan, according to the store’s project manager Dean Smith, is to assess how Kathmandu can utilise solar power in its store designs moving forward. 

“Kathmandu has been using sustainable practices for over 30 years and they are integral to our operations. Being able to improve our environmental footprint is one of our key pillars,” Smith said.