This Earth Month, and every month, Target celebrates how sustainability strengthens its business and communities, while delivering a more joyful and meaningful experience for guests. From designing its owned brands to powering its stores, Target makes thoughtful choices through its Target Forward sustainability strategy to benefit people, the planet, and its long-term growth.

“Target takes a holistic approach to sustainability year-round,” Amanda Nusz, Senior Vice President of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, said. “We find ways to infuse sustainable practices throughout our operations while inviting guests to engage in ways that are most meaningful to them. Whether it’s delivering programs like car seat trade-in events, offering electric vehicle charging stations, or evolving our owned brands to include more sustainable solutions, together, our collective actions are driving down emissions and sustaining our business for years to come.“

Target’s Work in Action

• Owned Brands Go Full Circle: Target is aiming to design all its owned brand products for a circular future by 2040, with Universal Thread and Everspring on track to achieve this goal by 2025. They’ve already launched two Universal Thread products made with yarn blended from used garments and manufacturing scraps. Learnings from these products are helping them scale up their efforts to eliminate waste and create products designed for durability, repairability, and recyclability.
• Car Seats Get a New Life: Target’s guest-favorite car seat trade-in event provides an opportunity to trade in old car seats for a discount on a new one. It’s also a sustainable choice: Target has recycled over 2.6 million car seats, or 39.7 million pounds worth. Even better, they’re closing the loop by using some of the materials collected to create new products, including select Brightroom crates.
• Charged Up for EVs: Target is expanding its electric vehicle charging network to over 1,800 spaces across more than 220 stores, making it convenient for guests who drive electric vehicles to shop and charge. This is one of the ways they’re working towards becoming the market leader for sustainable brands and experiences by 2030.
• Plugged into Renewable Energy: As part of its journey to achieve net zero emissions by 2040, Target is investing in numerous renewable energy projects across the country. This includes building the largest rooftop solar array in New York on their distribution center in Wilton. Their store in Vista, California, is their first store designed to be net-zero energy, generating enough clean power to meet all its energy needs. They’re also investing in other forms of renewable energy through purchasing agreements, like their partnership with Swift Current Energy to buy power from its Castle Gap Wind project in Texas.
• A More Sustainable Supply Chain: Target is exploring ways to operate more efficiently and sustainably across its supply chain, including reducing emissions. For example, last year, they cut down on transportation emissions by sending fewer but fuller trailers of products to their distribution centers and stores. Their facilities that take online orders packaged at stores and sort them for delivery are combining multiple deliveries in local neighborhoods, further reducing their environmental footprint.
• Partnering Up: To achieve its ambitious sustainability goals, Target embraces the power of partnership. They’ve partnered with Schneider Electric to educate and support their suppliers to tap into renewable energy through their Forward Renew program. As a Founding Partner of the Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag, Target is actively involved in finding solutions to eliminate single-use plastic bag waste. Target has also been recognized for its leadership in energy efficiency, receiving ENERGY STAR’s Partner of the Year award for sustained excellence in energy management for the ninth year in a row. You’ll find ENERGY STAR-rated products at your local Target, too.

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Target’s commitment to sustainability goes beyond Earth Month. Through its Target Forward strategy, the company is implementing innovative solutions to reduce its environmental footprint, from its product design to its supply chain. By partnering with key stakeholders and prioritizing renewable energy, Target is working towards a future where its business growth and environmental responsibility are mutually reinforcing.