Retail Waste Targets Tracker

To support the retail industry’s efforts to manage, divert and reduce waste and set appropriate waste-related goals, RILA has developed a Retail Waste Target Tracker which tracks the waste diversion and packaging-related targets of RILA members and other large U.S. retailers. As of January 2023, over 150 large U.S. retailers have set some type of goal related to waste diversion or packaging with more companies planning to set targets over the next several years.

Waste Target Trends and Insights

 In general, most companies with waste goals set them primarily for waste reduction or waste diversion. For many retailers, their goals are specific to their line of business. For example, numerous grocers have goals related to food waste, retailers that ship many products have goals related to packaging, and more specialty retailers who have goals related to using more recycled content in their products.
 
A number of retailers have goals related to the sustainability attributes of their packaging, particularly plastic packaging, and some retailers participate in specific programs aimed to achieve waste reduction. For example, about 17% of retailers researched participate in How2Recycle’s label program, aimed at clearly communicating recycling instructions to customers.
 
Some retailers have recycled content goals that aim to increase the percentage of recycled content in their own products or through the purchase of other materials (e.g., office paper).
 
For a full list of retail companies waste diversion and packaging-related targets, see the detailed Retail Waste Targets Tracker below. (RILA member login required)

For more background on this topic, access RILA’s Retail Trends: The Waste Landscape and Solutions for the Retail Industry report for an overview of global trends, the shifting landscape of retail waste and recovery and leading retail practices.

Detailed tracker of retail companies with waste, recycling and packaging goals.

RILA Waste Targets Tracker

Tags

• Matrix
• Benchmarking