Leather
We know that the impacts of leather production can be significant and stretch right along its value chain, from methane emissions and conversion of forests and pastureland, to the chemicals, water and energy used in the processing and tanning of leather. We have a target to source 100% of our leather from tanneries with environmental, traceability and social compliance certifications by 2022 and fully support tannery certification as one of several ways to help drive more responsible leather production. We currently source 80% of our leather from certified tanneries and have a policy in place not to source leather from cattle raised in the Amazon Biome, which reflects our commitment to avoid deforestation and forest degradation associated with leather procurement.
Packaging
We work closely with our suppliers to identify and assess risks to biodiversity when sourcing materials for our packaging. During the development of our policy for sourcing packaging, our Responsibility team visited a forest in a key sourcing location with a supplier to gain a deep understanding of the technical requirements for sustainably managed forests. Our key retail packaging supplier adopts forest certification with a preference for Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) of custody standards and can trace the wood used to manufacture wood pulp back to forests in countries including Sweden, Finland, Spain and Portugal.
In 2019, we launched a new sustainable packaging, using an innovative manufacturing technique where 40% of the paper packaging is made from recycled coffee cups. Since February 2019, 66 million cups have been upcycled into Burberry packaging. The resulting product is fully recyclable and is certified by the FSC. We will work to further increase the use of recycled materials in our products and transport packaging, as well as supporting the scaling and use of alternative fibres.
Man-made cellulosic fibres
We aim to maximise long-lasting solutions for forests through the responsible sourcing of man-made cellulosic fibres such as viscose (which accounts for less than 1% of our raw material use).