Home Depot outlines sustainability, workforce goals

7/2/2018
The Home Depot said it has cut energy use 23.5% since 2010, exceeding the company's goal to reduce consumption by 20% by 2020.

The latest sustainability report from The Home Depot, “A Year in Progress,” outlines latest updates to sustainability progress and environmental goals, workforce and community initiatives.

"As part of our values, we encourage our associates to be entrepreneurial, innovative and creative, and the successes you'll see in this report are a testament to their talent and dedication," Craig Menear, The Home Depot chairman, CEO and president, said in a statement released by the company today. "We're proud of their work, even as we look ahead with the understanding that there's much more to do."

Among goals met in 2017, more than 50% of the company's new hires were ethnically diverse and more than 34% were women.

The Home Depot Foundation, the company’s philanthropic arm, granted $63 million to support local communities in 2017, including over $4 million to assist areas affected by catastrophic hurricanes and wildfires. Also, the company's employee relief non-profit, The Homer Fund, assisted more than 6,000 associates who experienced evacuations, as well as damage or loss of their homes.

Along, with helping customers reduce their environmental impact through Energy Star and WaterSense products, The Home Depot also reduced its Scope 3 upstream transportation and distribution of freight greenhouse gas emissions by 10%.

Looking ahead, the Atlanta-based retailer has updated its parental leave policy by giving 6 weeks of 100% paid leave to all parents along with an additional 6 weeks of 100% paid maternity leave to all birth mothers.

An updated wood-purchasing policy has been introduced as well, including a commitment to High Conservation Value Forests and tropical Intact Forest Landscapes (IFLs). The company's updated policy will take effect on Sept. 1 and will include requirements for the Amazon and Congo basins, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

The company has also asked suppliers to exclude additional chemicals from residential household cleaning chemical products sold online and in stores by the end of 2022.

A full copy of The Home Depot’s 2018 Sustainability Report can be found here.

The retailer operates 2,286 stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces, and Mexico.

 
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