Operational Waste
Target is making intentional choices to reduce waste.
Target makes intentional choices about our sourcing and operations that help reduce waste while providing our guests with the affordable products they rely on. We focus first on minimizing the amount of waste we produce, then on maximizing our waste diversion efforts to reduce the volume that we send to landfills. We also use what we learn from waste audits to identify the most impactful opportunities for improvement and seek to build operational reliability and efficiency into our systems from the start.
Our suppliers are essential to this work. From onboarding through our ongoing engagement, we collaborate to maximize reuse, recycling, donation and composting. Together, we strengthen our supply chain, divert waste and reduce costs.
Reducing waste in our operations
As we work to divert more waste from landfill across our operations, we focus on scaling proven programs, implementing data visibility and driving consistent execution at the store and supply chain level.
In addition, food waste reduction also remains a priority, and we’ve deepened our TRUE Zero Waste1 certification efforts – helping us test, refine and scale the operational practices required to meet rigorous standards.
Minimizing manufacturing waste
Our suppliers play an integral role in helping Target achieve our waste reduction efforts. This effort continues throughout our engagement with additional training to confirm Target’s expectations are understood and met. We leverage a broad network of suppliers to optimize the reuse, recycling, donation and composting streams to continue to increase diversion capabilities on an annual basis.
The Zero Manufacturing Waste Program established the foundation for Target’s circular supply chain strategy by training more than 2,000 suppliers and internal team members, conducting factory waste assessments, collecting waste data across the supplier network, and advancing the first post-industrial waste (PIW) textile-to-textile recycling pilots. These efforts increase visibility into manufacturing waste streams, supplier waste management practices, and opportunities to scale circular materials across the supply chain.
Beyond waste management, the program enables a strategic shift from waste as a cost to waste as a material resource. Early pilots demonstrate how PIW can be transformed into new material inputs, supporting product innovation, reducing reliance on virgin materials, and strengthening supply chain resilience, while preparing for evolving regulatory requirements.
In its next phase, the program will leverage waste data, supplier capability building, and recycling partnerships to scale circular solutions across key sourcing markets. This includes developing textile-to-textile recycling pathways, strengthening local recycling ecosystems, and creating visibility into future waste supply and demand to unlock new sourcing and business opportunities.
Sustainability & Governance Report
1 The conservation of all resources by means of responsible production, consumption, reuse and recovery of products, packaging and materials without burning, and with no discharges to land, water or air that threaten the environment or human health, as established by the Zero Waste International Alliance. The threshold to be considered “Zero Waste” is normally set at a minimum of 90% diversion rate.