Kmart Group - Sustainable products

During the year, Kmart and Target continued to implement sustainable materials strategies to meet time-bound commitments in the areas of polyester, cellulose and wool. The final process requirements for the cellulose and wool strategies were embedded over the past year, allowing clear guidance to teams to align their sourcing with the commitments.

Kmart has transitioned approximately 24 per cent of the polyester used in its own-brand clothing and bedding to recycled materials.

Target has transitioned approximately 22 per cent of the wool used in own-brand clothing and bedding instore from July to December 2022 to be certified with the Responsible Wool Standard.

Plastic

As a large user of plastic, Kmart Group has a responsibility to eliminate the worst forms of plastic from its products and transition to recycled content and recyclable or compostable options, where possible. In the past year, Kmart Group has conducted a baseline assessment of plastic usage and composition in own-brand products, as a first step in developing a roadmap to meet this target.

Packaging

Kmart Group continues to apply the Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) on own-brand packaging in consultation with the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO). In the 2023 financial year, 1,677 (Kmart) and 709 (Target) Packaging Recyclability Evaluation Portal assessments were completed for Kmart Group products.

Packaging processes continue to be improved, with the trial of a new process that will enable suppliers that are APCO members to generate their own ARL’s for Kmart Group products, improvement of packaging data collection templates, and internal Quality team engagement to better control the risk of ARL non-compliance.

In addition, Kmart Group continues to work to phase out problematic plastic packaging. The division has phased out use of expanded polystyrene packaging from 485 products in Kmart and 76 products in Target.

Circular design

In December 2022, Kmart ran a circular design training pilot with its leadership team, led by circular design specialist Dr Clara Vuletich. Leaders were asked to reimagine Kmart products through a circular lens and consider Kmart in terms of the circular design. In one of the sessions, the team was split into groups and asked to consider the enablers and constraints of Kmart’s business model and internal systems if it was to pursue one of the following: 100 per cent recycled materials, 100 per cent recyclable or compostable product, if everything was designed to last or repair, resale and/or rental systems. The findings from this session have helped to inform a working group, which will create a circular design strategy for Kmart.