As we progress in our Target Forward journey toward innovating to eliminate waste, we will address our complete value chain by working upstream with our suppliers, improving our own operational waste and reducing the pain points — such as packaging — identified by our guests.
Design
A sustainable future requires innovation as well as eliminating waste and keeping resources and products in use for as long as possible. Circular design is critical to realizing this — not just for the products Target makes and sells, but for our supply chain, our properties and all our ways of working. Our circular design principles and training resources were co-created with industry experts and are relevant for all team members — whether or not they have “designer” in their job title. Circularity is incorporated throughout our business and brings our diverse teams together to ensure we positively impact both people and planet.
By 2040, Target plans for 100% of our owned brand products to be designed for a circular future. To get there, our teams will continue designing to eliminate waste, working toward using materials that are regenerative, recycled or sourced sustainably, and to create products that are more durable, easily repaired or recyclable.
Initial milestone:
By 2025, Target aims to offer two circular owned brands.
Foundations we've laid:
- Trained more than 3,000 team members and 1,000 vendors have learned circular design principles since 2018.
- We also launched Target’s Circular Design Guide, a web-based training hub for team members to learn about circular design, and completed testing for our Circular Design Calculator, enabling team members to calculate key factors when choosing materials.
- In 2022, we launched Target Zero, an initiative to help our guests more easily find hundreds of products across our assortment that create less packaging waste.
Products
Guests often look to Target for better-for-the-planet product options, and we recognize the rising costs and environmental impacts of waste throughout our own value chain. So, we aim to design all of our owned brand products for a circular future by 2040. We’re working toward a net zero world where we can make the most financial and societal impact by circulating materials at their highest value.
To guide our progress, we put policies in place, developed circular design principles and set goals to keep us on track and moving forward.
Learn more about sustainable products
Browse our chemical strategy
Explore our climate & energy efforts
Packaging
Enterprise-wide circular design principles are the backbone of our newly developed retail product packaging strategy that aspires to have a healthy, inclusive and waste-free future. We know consumers are concerned about plastic packaging impacts. We want to use data to inform our decisions, drive positive systems changes through pre-competitive collaboration across the supply chain and understand the holistic impact of plastic packaging changes.
Learn more about our approach to plastics
Operations
We're designing new ways to make our business and supply chain more sustainable from beginning to end, and that includes reducing waste across our operations. When we can’t eliminate waste, we try to divert it from landfill. Our landfill diversion programs span across our construction and operational waste, and in 2021, 68.2% of construction waste and 80.8% of operational waste was diverted from retail operations.
Events and marketing
We apply sustainability principles to various guest-facing events and internal team meetings through the creation of bespoke plans. Vendors must adhere to sustainability guidelines outlined in our SOVE, with Target assigning resources and on-site experts to support them.
Since 2020, we have printed display signs in-store, allowing us to create only what we need and reducing waste. We have replaced most landfill-only foam core with recycled, recyclable corrugate and are now reviewing other plastic types, reducing virgin plastic use and ensuring what we do use can be recycled in-store or in partnership with the Waste Minimization team. Until 2021, our holiday containment bins were corrugate with a plastic front. Following a 2022 redesign, these bins are now 100% corrugate, eliminating the use of more than 61,700 lbs of plastic and making them compatible with in-store recycling processes. Additionally, the switch has resulted in a 25% materials cost saving.
Enhancements to our Rubix project management software have increased our ability to divert waste from landfill by improving the information we have on the materials we use. Signs and hardware made with non-sustainable materials can be eliminated or modified based on this information.
Recycling
Since 2010, we have offered front-of-store recycling kiosks that give guests an easy way to recycle cans, glass, plastic bottles, plastic bags, MP3 players, ink cartridges and cell phones right in their local store. The goal of the program is to extend our company recycling efforts, and so far, the program has kept thousands of tons of recycled materials out of landfills.