(Photo Credit: Asos)London-based online fashion retailer Asos reported cutting operational carbon emissions per order by 30% since 2015-2016. The company credits its four-year strategy to reduce carbon intensity on an annual basis.
CEO Nick Beighton signed off on the Carbon 2020 strategy in 2015. It defined how the retailer would meet its goal to reduce carbon intensity, measured in grams of carbon dioxide per customer order. Asos prioritized increasing energy efficiency, lowering delivery and packaging emissions, and expanding the use of renewable energy.
Operational carbon emissions are the ones resulting from Asos’ business operations, including the transportation of goods, fulfillment centers, packaging, offices, and business travel. The company measures emissions associated with product manufacturing separately through its work with the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan.
“The largest proportion of our footprint is comprised of inbound supplier deliveries, stock movements between sites and outbound customer deliveries and returns, accounting for 91% of our emissions,” the retailer said. “In the financial year ending August 2018, total emissions from the transportation of goods decreased by 12%.”
Asos encouraged carriers to upgrade to more efficient fleets, optimize routes, and increase load capacity to reduce the overall number of vehicles on the road.
“To reduce freight movements and associated emissions we’ve built more fulfillment centers located within our biggest markets,” the company says. “Bringing our fulfillment centers closer to the point of delivery enables us to reduce our reliance on air freight and explore less carbon intensive road and rail-based options.”
In order to tackle building emissions, Asos introduced a fulfillment center sustainability strategy for new build and retrofitted sites that covers onsite renewable energy generation, zero waste-to-landfill, energy-efficient window glazing, and sub-metering for energy usage. Asos also replaced lighting with low-emissions LED alternatives, got approval for a solar installation on the roof of their German fulfillment center, and did a feasibility study for EV charging stations and solar panels at their Atlanta fulfillment center.
Other carbon emissions-cutting steps included upgrading video conferencing facilities at headquarters to limit the need for employee travel and recycling packaging sent back to Asos through customer returns.
Over the past four years, Asos grew from a $1.86 billion revenue business with 12.4 million active customers, to a $3.53 billion business with 20.3 million active customers.
