Zara owner Inditex has laid out ambitious sustainability goals at its AGM, including a pledge to reduce its emissions by more than 50% by 2030, as it looks to reach net zero by 2040.
The fashion giant which also owns Pull&Bear and Bershka said it would focus on low-impact fibres, supply chain transformation, biodiversity and circularity initiatives, as fast-fashion retailers face growing pressure to cut waste.
Chief executive Óscar García Maceiras said the targets were “extremely ambitious, albeit just another step in the work the company has been doing for many years now”.
By the end of the decade, around 40% of the Spanish group’s fibres will come from recycling processes and 25% from sustainably farmed crops.
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Inditex previously aimed to use more sustainable cotton, linen, polyester and fibres made from wood pulp but did not have an overall goal for recycled fibres.
The group said it also wants to continue extending its circularity initiatives, such as Zara Pre-Owned, and will support projects that protect and enhance biodiversity.
Inditex chair Marta Ortega Pérez said at the AGM that the “magic of Inditex lies with our team and values, heavily influenced by self-imposed high standards”.
“The future is not predetermined and we must never forget that,” she added.
The new targets come as the European Commission is drawing up regulations to make clothing retailers pay for the waste they produce, arguing that fast-fashion brands “encourage customers to shop impulsively and incentivise purchasing larger quantities of clothes”.
Last month Inditex posted a better-than-expected 54% rise in first-quarter profit, as sales kept pace after a strong 2022, when it outperformed other retailers amid the cost of living crisis.
The world’s biggest fashion company saw a 14% rise in gross profit to 3.96bn, as well as a 14% increase in EBITDA to £1.89bn for the three months to April 30, 2023.
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