The impact of climate change poses a major challenge for all of us, and it will take bold action to help the planet.
As we celebrate Earth Month and Earth Day today, Best Buy continues to take action year-round to do better for the planet, our employees and customers, and the communities we serve. From our supply chain to our retail stores, we are continually working on ways to reduce our carbon emissions and drive the circular economy, a system in which nothing is wasted and we keep products in use for as long as possible.
“Although we still have a long way to go, our commitment to the planet is strong,” said Tim Dunn, Best Buy’s head of environmental sustainability. “We are proud of the efforts we have accomplished, which demonstrate our dedication to tackle climate change and its effects that impact our employees, communities, and the planet.”
Here are some examples of how our sustainability work has recently come to life:
A gift (card) that’s better for the environment
Small, incremental changes add up to big impacts. In October 2021, we announced that 100% of the physical gift cards we sell in our stores and online are now made of paper and can be recycled.
A big round of applause for Tim Nickel, our gift card production manager, who led the charge in our plastic-to-paper gift card transition. Prior to his retirement in February, Tim and his team had helped avoid adding nearly 196 tons of plastic waste to landfills.
On the path to zero waste
Waste reduction continues to be an important part of our environmental strategy and we’ve set a goal to achieve 85% waste diversion across our US operations by 2025. In FY22, we increased our waste diversion by eight percent since FY19, bringing it up to 73 percent, getting one step closer to our goal.
Last year, we reached a major milestone when we announced that one of our supply chain facilities in Chino, California, earned Best Buy’s first TRUE certification for zero waste. To earn its certification the facility diverted more than 99.67% of its solid waste from landfills. The Chino facility achieved this milestone by identifying waste streams and finding ways to make it easier for employees to recycle.
While we’re very excited about this accomplishment, we’re looking to expand our TRUE certification into more facilities in the future.
Helping our customers live sustainably
We set an ambitious goal in 2019 to help our customers reduce their own carbon emissions 20% by 2030 through the use of ENERGY STAR certified products, saving more than $5 billion on their energy bills.
Watch this video we did in collaboration with TED Countdown and the Climate Pledge on the steps we’re taking to make a sustainable future, together with our customers.
In November 2021, Best Buy acquired Yardbird, the outdoor furniture company that uses ocean-bound plastic in its products. Yardbird furniture is made with repurposed ocean plastic sourced from beaches, waterways and ocean-bound susceptible locations. Yardbird also partners with carbonfund.org to offset their carbon footprint.
Learn more about Best Buy’s sustainability efforts, here, or read our 2021 Environmental, Social and Governance Report.