Forest Products Policy

Background

Target recognizes that the ecosystem services provided by forests and other natural ecosystems around the world are irreplaceable and have a positive impact in supporting global livelihoods. We’re committed to working with our suppliers to protect forests and other natural ecosystems by helping eliminate deforestation and forest degradation from our value chain.

In March 2017, Target publicly released a forest products policy. This policy was released along with some initial commitments and timelines for owned brand products made with wood or wood-based fibers. 

Since the launch of this policy, Target has been able to verify policy compliance for many owned brand products through the use of the credible third-party forest certification standards mentioned in the policy. Additionally, in order to support policy implementation, many of our suppliers have now become certified to these standards. 

Going forward, Target will continue to increase policy compliance through further supplier adoption of forest certification standards as well as risk-based assessments to determine priorities and inform strategy.

Our policy

Overall statement 

Target is committed to sourcing wood-based products from well-managed forests to avoid contributing to deforestation or forest degradation. Target will work actively with its vendors, suppliers and other stakeholders to implement our policy by eliminating any unacceptable sources, and progressively increasing the amount of responsible wood, paper, paper-based packaging and wood-based fiber over time. 

Our long-term intention is that all wood, paper, paper-based packaging and wood-based fiber used in products that we purchase and sell is sourced from well-managed forests that have been credibly certified and/or are from post-consumer recycled materials. When certified or recycled materials are not available, Target will work with its suppliers to meet policy requirements. 

Policy scope 

This commitment applies to all of Target’s owned brand products and packaging containing a majority of wood-based material. 

Requirements for timber and paper products 

Target requires wood, paper, paper-based packaging and wood-based fiber vendors to comply with the requirements of the U.S. Lacey Act. Vendors of products made of wood, paper, paper-based packaging and wood-based fiber covered under the scope of this policy should confirm that their products do not contain the following categories: 

• Illegally harvested and traded timber.
• Timber harvested in violation of traditional or civil rights.
• Timber harvested from areas in which high conservation values are threatened by poor forest management activities.
• Timber harvested from areas being converted from forests and other wooded ecosystems to plantations or non-forest use.
• Timber from forests in which genetically modified trees are planted. 

There are a number of forest certification schemes that are currently available around the world. Target relies on the use of these schemes within our supply chain to achieve our policy commitment. While Target recognizes the value that many certifications bring to the market — such as Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) — we prefer Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification and will work with our suppliers to help them achieve full chain of custody and increase the penetration of FSC certified products available in our stores and online. 

In addition, Target believes that use of post-consumer recycled and alternative (non-wood) fibers should be increased to reduce the pressure on forests. Target aims to increase the use of recycled materials in our products and packaging, when available, and meeting product performance requirements and competitive market conditions. 

Implementation 

We understand that we cannot address all vendors and products at once, so prioritization is key. This commitment We understand that we cannot address all vendors and products at once, so prioritization is key. This commitment is being progressively implemented through a program to improve the sustainability of our supply chain. In 2023, we extended our reporting on progress towards our Forest Products Policy to all owned brands. In prior years, we had been only reporting on progress with a limited set of brands. As we continue to implement this policy, we will monitor and report on our progress annually in our reporting on sustainability and governance.

Our progress

Our priority owned brands (Spritz, up&up, Cat & Jack, Pillowfort, Threshold and Smith & Hawken) all made significant progress on implementing our forest products policy. This work is an effort across our design, sourcing, buying, marketing and packaging teams. Additionally, many of our vendor partners were willing to commit to higher standards for all the forest products they source for Target, which meant that all owned brands benefited from the work done in these priority brands.

The availability and cost of third-party certified materials, however, especially with solid wood products, presented challenges that prevented us from meeting our 2022 deadline for our goal to roll out implementation of our Forest Products Policy to Threshold and Smith & Hawken brands by the end of 2022. The lessons we have learned as a result are informing our strategies going forward. As we move towards 2030, we are re-evaluating our approach to meeting our goals.

As of 2023, we extended our reporting on progress towards our Forest Products Policy to all owned brands. In early 2024, several of our wood product suppliers completed the required steps to implement FSC certification in their supply chains, enabling more products to conform to our Forest Products Policy this coming year.