Inditex announces sustainability goals for Zara and other brands

At Inditex's Annual General Meeting today, CEO Pablo Isla outlined the company's global sustainability commitments that will be integrated throughout its brands, which include Zara, Pull & Bear, Bershka and Stradivarius.

The company's latest batch of sustainability goals will build upon the previous commitments it has made in the 18 years since it signed the United Nations Global Compact. Inditex has already been coordinating responsibly and sustainably produced fabrics into its products, transforming stores and facilities to eco-efficient models, recycling packaging materials and rolling out Zara's eco-friendly Join Life initiative, which promotes the use of sustainable materials such as recycled fabrics, Tencel or organic cotton.

Now Inditex has revealed its next set of goals. By 2020, 100 percent of its brand's stores will be eco-efficient and it will eliminate all plastic bags. Over 25 percent of all garments will feature the Join Life environmental excellence label.

By 2023, the company said that all single-use plastics will have been completely eliminated for customers sales, and zero percent of Inditex waste will go to landfills. Inditex will use only organic, sustainable or recycled options for viscose by 2023, yet the same target will be reached for cotton, linen and polyester by 2025.

Also by 2025, 80 percent of the energy used throughout Inditex stores, offices and facilities will be renewable.

"Sustainability is a never-ending task in which everyone here at Inditex is involved and in which we are successfully engaging all of our suppliers," Isla said in a statement. "We aspire to playing a transformational role in the industry."