Kmart

Oct 10, 2022

Kmart is an Australian retailer founded in 1969 in Melbourne, Victoria. The multinational retail company offers fast fashion for women, men, and children.

Kmart sells clothing, accessories, shoes, eyewear, beauty, and jewelry. The Australian department store chain owns and operates Target Australia and online retailer Catch.com.au.

Kmart's sustainability strategy is called Better Together: taking our responsibility very seriously to care for and respect our planet and all the lives that we touch.

Kmart now carries clothes, accessories, and footwear made from recycled and more responsibly sourced materials. It believes that by working together and utilising each other's strengths, we can achieve better outcomes for today and a brighter future for tomorrow.

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Sustainability Rating: 5/10

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Category: Clothing, accessories, shoes, bags

For: Women, men, children

Type: Basics, denim, knitwear, activewear, underwear, loungewear, swimwear, outerwear, nightwear, maternity, flats, sandals, heels, boots, sneakers

Style: Casual

Quality: Low

Price: $

Sizes: 2XS-4XL, 0-18 (US), 2-20 (UK), 32-48 (EU), 4-22 (AU), plus size

Fabrics: Cotton, linen, hemp, ramie, jute, lyocell, modal, viscose, acetate, polyester, nylon, spandex, polyethylene, polypropylene, acrylic, neoprene, polyurethane, rubber, leather, wool, silk, down

100% Organic: No

100% Vegan: No

Ethical & Fair: Yes

Recycling: Yes

Producing country: Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Vietnam

Certifications: GOTS, OCS, FSC, BCI, Fair Trade, SMETA, BSCI, SA8000, WRAP

Sustainability Practices

Kmart is committed to strengthening its corporate governance, environmental footprint, and social impact. It focuses on better materials and eliminating waste to ensure a better future for generations to come.

Kmart takes wide-ranging measures and makes sustainability efforts to help address climate and restore natural systems. It drives opportunity and equity and creates change that is good for all.

Kmart works to bring solutions that better serve communities and the environment. It takes a holistic view of sustainability and drives a positive impact for both people and the planet.

Kmart only uses a relatively small proportion of organic materials such as organic cotton and hemp or recycled materials such as recycled polyester and regenerated nylon.

Kmart dedicates very few of its collections to sustainable fashion. It carries some sustainable clothing pieces and plans to do more for its clothes, suppliers, communities, and impact on the environment.

Most of the fabrics used by Kmart are either natural without relevant certifications, such as conventional cotton or linen, or synthetic petroleum-based fibers such as polyester, nylon, acrylic, and more.

Kmart also uses a small amount of semi-synthetic fibers or regenerated cellulosic fabrics such as lyocell, modal, acetate, and viscose.

Kmart publishes a list of all its manufacturers on its corporate website, Kmart.com.au. It aspires to improve purchasing practices with its suppliers and contribute to solutions that will sustainably improve wages over the long term.

The 2022 Fashion Transparency Index gave Kmart a very high score of 78% based on how much the group discloses about its social and environmental policies, practices, and impacts.

Kmart still manufactures its clothes in China and many other East Asian countries, where human rights and labor law violations occur everyday.

The retailer sources products from suppliers with labor certification standard that ensures good working conditions, decent living wages, health, safety, and other human rights for workers in its supply chain.

Kmart has a Code of Conduct that applies to all its suppliers and subcontractors to understand the risks facing workers and make positive changes throughout its supply chain.

Kmart assesses compliance with its Code of Conduct by auditing all facilities that manufacture its products. It maintains the right to conduct unannounced audits of any disclosed locations.

Kmart doesn't use exotic animal skin, hair, fur, or angora. But it uses leather, wool, silk, and down feathers to manufacture many of its clothing pieces.

These animal-derived materials are cruel and unethical. They also harm the environment by producing greenhouse gases and waste. More sustainable alternatives exist.

Sustainability Goals

Kmart has committed to reducing its environmental impact across the entire supply chain. By December 2030, it will achieve a 100% waste diversion rate in its stores, distribution centres, and support offices.

By July 2030, it will achieve NetZero Scope 1 and 2 emissions in its owned and controlled operations (stores, distribution centres and offices).

By July 2025, its owned and controlled operations (stores, distribution centres and offices) will be powered by 100% renewable electricity.

By January 2025, it will complete the phase out of all problematic plastics used in our own brand products.

By January 2030, 100% of its own brand plastic products will be recyclable or compostable and 50% of the plastic used in its own brand merchandise will be made from recycled materials or plant-based materials.