Planet
Our 2030 strategic direction demonstrates a clear focus on our Planet pillar, where we aim to nurture nature and reduce our negative impacts to net zero.
To achieve this goal, three key areas of focus are important – Zero Carbon Operations, Nature Positive, and Eliminating Waste.
OUR GOALS
ZERO CARBON OPERATIONS Achieve net zero carbon operations (scopes 1 & 2) By 2025
NATURE POSITIVE Contributing to the restoration and conservation of the natural environment in our key markets From 2025
ELIMINATE WASTE
We will send zero waste to landfill and eliminate single use plastic from our packaging. By 2027
Nature Restoration
Planting trees is the simplest, yet most critical initiative that aids in improving air quality, sequestering carbon, preventing soil erosion, and providing biodiverse habitats. For every LAB. Collection piece sold in Australia, New Zealand and Canada, Michael Hill has committed to planting up to 10 trees with One Tree Planted. With your help, we have committed to planting one million trees throughout Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Our goal is to reach this one million milestone in 2030.
As of June 2024, we have planted 80,000 trees across a range of indigenous-led and reforestation projects in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Find out more about our One Tree Planted partnership here.
Energy Efficiency and Zero Carbon Operations
We have committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions from our own operations (Scope 1 and 2 emissions) by the end of 2025.
At the end of June 2024, our Head office in Brisbane, 95% of our New Zealand retail network and 37% of our Australian network have transitioned to zero emission sources that support 100% renewable energy generation.
To support this focus on renewables, our head office building also operates a 99KW solar panel system in accordance with Australian Standard AS5033 by the Clean Energy Council. During this financial year, our Base Building achieved a 5-star Energy rating (Excellent) with the National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS). A NABERS Energy rating looks at a building’s energy efficiency and helps to track our performance against our sustainability commitments.
SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING
Michael Hill has been a proud member of The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) since 2023. APCO has over 2,300 members that share a commitment to reducing the environmental impact of their packaging and working towards the 2025 National Packaging Targets. Our APCO membership is important to ensure transparency and accountability under our Zero Waste goal, which forms part of our Sustainability Strategy.
We are already implementing initiatives to make our packaging more sustainable and to reduce the amount of packaging that ends up in landfill. For 2023, Michael Hill’s overall APCO performance level was Good Progress. We are now working towards taking tangible action on our packaging sustainability journey. See our 2023 annual report and 2024 action plan here for more detail on the commitments we have made on our sustainable packaging journey.