Responsible Resource Use

Raw materials

We drive efforts internally and through our supply chain to source materials and commodities in increasingly responsible ways. 

Goals and commitments

• By 2025, Target plans for 100% of our owned brands, in addition to our owned brand limited-edition and brand partnerships, to adhere to Target’s already established sustainability standards. 
  

• By 2030, Target aims to be the market leader for creating and curating inclusive, sustainable brands¹ and experiences. 

• By 2030, Target intends for the leading raw materials (e.g., forest products and cotton) that go into our owned brand products to be 100% recycled, regenerative² or sustainably sourced.   

• Target is committed to sourcing cotton more sustainably for our owned brand and exclusive national brand products by participating in programs designed to improve cotton growing practices and working conditions. 

• Our seafood sustainability commitment to include best practice requirements for the use of transshipment in tuna supply chains. 

• By 2025, Target plans to comply with the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals’ (ZDHC) progressive level wastewater standard³, in regards to all owned brand apparel textile factories.  

• By 2025, Target intends to remove intentionally added perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) from owned brand products, including but not limited to textiles, formulated products, cosmetics, beauty and cookware items.

• By 2025, Target intends to leverage soil health practices to improve at least 1 million acres of land. 

  Updates on our goal progress can be found in our reporting on sustainability and governance.

  
  

Standards and certifications

Third-party standards help provide confidence in the practices used in our supply chain and help encourage positive change. To guide sourcing decisions for our owned brands, our suppliers utilize certifications including:

• Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) 
• Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) 
• Aquaculture Stewardship Council 
• Best Aquaculture Practices 
• Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) 
• Fair Trade USA 
• Better Cotton Initiative 

• OEKO-TEX® 

For our owned brand products to claim alignment with a standard, our vendors must have the same certification for the raw materials sourced for the product. We communicate sustainability-related information of interest to our guests using clear icons on product labels to highlight such certifications.

Biodiversity commitments, partnerships and collaborations

We are refining our biodiversity strategy and embarking on related initiatives and partnerships, with a focus on the five major drivers of nature loss⁴ — climate change, pollution, invasive alien species, direct exploitation of resources and negative land/freshwater/and ocean use-related change. 

We have commodity-based goals that place sustainable practices at the forefront of the way we operate.  Both our forest products policy and palm oil commitments explicitly exclude conversion of High Conservation Value⁵ or High Carbon Stock⁶ forest areas. Our soil health and sustainable cotton goals and our blanket pollinator policy also encourage biodiversity-friendly means of operating, and our goal to comply with the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals’ (ZDHC) progressive level wastewater standard³ promotes the preservation of our freshwater and oceanic forms of biodiversity. Additionally, we are working with a variety of initiatives and partners to help co-create a circular economy, as the products that we design, produce and later purchase also have a role to play in protecting biodiversity.  

We are committed to relevant partnerships, initiatives and disclosures. As we continue to build out further partnerships, we want to recognize our current collaborations that are closely related to biodiversity:

Waste reduction efforts in the supply chain

We believe that while it is critical for the materials that go into a product to be sustainable, what happens to the waste material created in a product’s manufacturing process is equally important. We recognize that Target has the responsibility to ensure the manufacturing waste is treated with environmentally responsible methods. We make every effort and collaborate with our owned brand suppliers to eliminate and minimize waste by reusing materials, source reduction and recycling.

Our approach to waste elimination and reduction  

Audits and verifications

Our Responsible Sourcing and Sustainability audit program monitors the locations that produce our owned and exclusive brands, as well as those that produce national brand products for which Target is the importer of record. Environmental management indicators are part of our Standards of Vendor Engagement and are inclusive of, but not limited to: possession of the appropriate permits, proper waste management methods, safe chemical usage and responsible wastewater stewardship practices. Read more about audits and continuous improvement.