Inside B&Q's Net Zero Transformation: From Plant Pots to Supplier Collaboration, How to Make Sustainability Stick

In this practical and inspiring episode of Straight Talking Sustainability, host Emma Burlow sits down with Sanita Garley, Net Zero Transition Plan Lead at B&Q, to explore the often-discussed but rarely-demonstrated journey from setting net zero targets to actually implementing change across a major retail organisation.

With over 20 years in buying and product development before transitioning into sustainability three years ago, Sanita brings a refreshingly commercial perspective to the sustainability challenge, proving that expertise in carbon science matters far less than understanding how to get things done within business realities.

Sanita's transition into sustainability began when she identified a critical gap: the sustainability team worked incredibly hard to engage commercial colleagues, but those colleagues (herself included at the time) simply were not engaging. The pressures of margin targets, sales goals, and daily commercial realities created a barrier that well-intentioned sustainability professionals could not penetrate.

Recognising an opportunity to become the conduit between these two worlds, Sanita approached her manager Sam Dyer (Head of Responsible Business) and requested a chance to try a maternity cover role. Three years later, she now leads B&Q's entire Net Zero Transition Plan, focusing particularly on the notoriously complex Scope 3 emissions from products and vendors.

The conversation tackles imposter syndrome head-on, with Sanita admitting she felt massively out of her depth initially, knowing very little about carbon. However, her commercial mindset proved invaluable: "Give me a target, I'll go after it and I'll hit it."

By reframing carbon reduction as another business objective rather than an insurmountable technical challenge, Sanita demonstrates how non-sustainability professionals can bring fresh, practical approaches to what often feels like an impenetrable field. Her wide remit across B&Q's entire product range (rather than a focused category) presents unique challenges but also opportunities for systemic impact.

Throughout the episode, Sanita emphasises the critical importance of speaking stakeholders' language and respecting their pressures. Coming from the commercial world, she understands when not to have conversations ("it's a really bad time of year, guys") and how to frame sustainability requests in ways that resonate with buyers facing their own intense targets.

This commercial fluency, combined with genuine respect for colleagues' expertise, creates what Sanita describes as a "true exchange" where she relies on product experts' knowledge whilst they benefit from her sustainability guidance.

The discussion explores B&Q's impressive sustainability heritage, including founding membership of the FSC 30 years ago, pioneering peat-free compost, and achieving over 99% certification for wood and paper products. However, Sanita acknowledges that communicating these achievements to customers remains challenging when sustainability often does not resonate as strongly as retailers hope.

Her pragmatic response: "Let us do the heavy lifting for now" rather than waiting for consumer demand to drive every change. This philosophy of responsible business means making sustainability improvements behind the scenes because "you know what's right," even when customers are not yet asking for it.

Emma and Sanita discuss practical examples including the plant pot recycling initiative (collection points in 120 stores creating a closed-loop system), CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) implementation where B&Q leads supplier engagement despite being the only retailer asking for certain data, and carbon literacy training that has now reached over 100 colleagues with ambitious plans for 2026.

The plant pot scheme, whilst not a major carbon reducer, demonstrates how visible, relatable initiatives build cultural acceptance and prove that sustainability solutions can actually work.

A significant portion of the conversation focuses on carbon literacy training and its transformational impact. Sanita herself became a certified carbon literacy trainer, overcoming significant personal doubts to deliver training courses that now fill quickly due to employee demand rather than mandate.

The most powerful validation came when a buyer reported that after training, every supplier conversation that week included questions about targets and scope emissions. This shift from sustainability teams asking buyers to engage suppliers, to buyers proactively raising these topics themselves, represents the holy grail of embedded sustainability culture.

Sanita candidly discusses ongoing challenges including meeting cancellations, last-minute dropouts, and the reality that "I have you ever met a non-frustrated sustainability professional?" However, she frames tolerance and empathy as core job requirements, recognising that colleagues face genuine pressures that prevent instant sustainability adoption.

Looking ahead to 2026, Sanita's priorities include communicating B&Q's sustainability work more effectively (in ways customers actually understand and value), increasing vendor engagement through collaborative supplier conversations, expanding carbon literacy training throughout the organisation, and potentially extending training to store colleagues who have daily customer contact.

Her vision centres on collective movement rather than isolated initiatives, recognising that climate crisis requires shared solutions rather than competitive advantage.

In this retail sustainability and organisational change episode, you'll discover:

1. Why commercial background beats carbon expertise when implementing net zero across retail operations
2. How to identify the "conduit" opportunity between sustainability teams and commercial colleagues
3. The importance of respecting stakeholder pressures before making sustainability asks
4. Why B&Q chooses to "do the heavy lifting" behind the scenes rather than waiting for consumer demand
5. How plant pot recycling initiatives build cultural acceptance despite modest carbon impact
6. The transformational power of carbon literacy training when voluntary rather than mandated
7. Why translating carbon savings into relatable metrics (cheeseburgers not tonnage) drives engagement
8. How CBAM implementation creates supplier collaboration opportunities despite complexity
9. The role of humour, optimism, and tolerance in preventing sustainability professional burnout

Key Retail Sustainability Implementation Insights:

(03:52) The commercial mindset advantage: "Give me a target. I'll go after it and I'll hit it. So I think that is what drives me... if you take away tons of carbon, carbon emissions, intensity, et cetera, end of the day, it's another target we've yet to hit."

(06:27) Speaking their language: "Because coming from that world, you understand their pressures, you learn how to speak their speech as well... It's a really bad time of year, guys. I wouldn't really be having this conversation then because they've got other things they need to go after."

(18:22) Building understanding over facts: "I devote a lot of my time and my energy towards ensuring the people that I engage with understand the logic of what it is I'm trying to do. Because if they don't get it, they won't do it again."

(19:20) Measuring success through action: "I had some great feedback from one of the buyers who came on the training. She said, this week, all the conversations I had with my suppliers, I've asked, have you set any targets? What are you doing in your scopes? I felt so proud."

(29:37) Respecting expertise: "I have colleagues in the buying teams who are absolute experts in their product areas... I have to rely on their expertise to carry me through what I'm trying to propose. And it's great because then it becomes a real true exchange."

(36:21) Responsible retailer philosophy: "What it does say to me then, we as a responsible retailer need to continue doing the heavy lifting for now. One day it will catch up... Let us do the heavy lifting. Let us be the ones who take that on."

(37:32) Doing what's right: "We do it anyway, because you know what's right... We don't necessarily shout out a lot about it, but it's OK. I always say, well, our time will come."

(39:29) Staying power matters: "Imagine if we all walked away. So someone's got to do the job, right?"

(40:22) Making it relatable: "If I start talking about carbon intensity and tons, very dry for them. So we go back and I said, today you have saved the equivalent of 7,000 burgers. Well done you."

Connect With Sanita

Sanita Garley | LinkedIn