British luxury fashion house, Burberry is on its move to end its practice of destroying unsold items such as clothes, bags, fabric materials, and perfume with immediate effect.
It will also stop the of use of real fur following severe criticism from environmental activists.
Burberry burnt unsold goods worth £28.6 million in 2007 to protect its brand, taking the sum of products destroyed over the half decade to more than £90m. Earlier, the fashion house defended its practice stating, the energy originated from burning its goods had bee used.
“This commitment builds on the goals that we set last year as part of our five-year responsibility agenda and is supported by our new strategy, which is helping tackle the causes of waste. We already reuse, repair, donate or recycle unsaleable products and we will continue to expand these efforts,” the fashion house said in a statement.
“At Burberry, we are passionate about driving positive change. Our responsibility goals cover the entire footprint of our operations and extend to the communities around us,” the company added.
“Modern luxury means being socially and environmentally responsible. This belief is core to us at Burberry and key to our long-term success. We are committed to applying the same creativity to all parts of Burberry as we do to our products,” said Marco Gobbetti, Chief Executive Officer.
Burberry said that it will continue to invest in communities, from supporting young people in disadvantaged areas of London and Yorkshire, to developing a more inclusive and sustainable cashmere industry in Afghanistan. These efforts have been recognised by Burberry’s inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the third consecutive year.
The incident occurred on the same day Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer addressed the audience at London Tech WeekGetty Images