Despite burning unsold goods, Burberry is included in Dow Jones’ Sustainability Index

Despite admittedly burning unsold goods to preserve its image of exclusivity, British fashion house Burberry has been included for the fourth consecutive year in Dow Jones’ Sustainability Index, in the “Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods” category. The index aims to guide investors who want to take sustainability practices into account.

According to Burberry’s latest annual report, finished products worth 28.6 million pounds (37 million US dollars) have been destroyed in 2017 to avoid discounting. The amount of destroyed goods nearly tripled since 2014, when the cost of products burned by the British label was “just” 11 million pounds (14 million US dollars). After being heavily criticized by the media, consumers and other fashion companies, Burberry pledged earlier this month to stop destroying unsaleable products, with immediate effect. In addition, the brand best known for its trench coats announced its future collections will no longer include fur.

Burberry leading luxury brand in Dow Jones' 2018 Sustainability Index

But these recent pledges are not the reasons which led Dow Jones to feature Burberry in its sustainability index. According to a statement released by Burberry today, its inclusion in the ranking is a recognition of other sustainability efforts, such as partnering up with sustainable luxury company Elvis & Kresse to transform 120 tonnes of leather offcuts into new products, or procuring 48 percent of its total energy from renewable resources -- “an increase of 24 percent from the previous year”, said the company.

Photo credit: Burberry AW18, source Burberry website