Target
Evaluation Completed:
August 14, 2025
Adults
Babies
Bathroom
Bedroom
Cleaning & Laundry
Home Improvement
Kids
Kitchen
More Affordable
Personal Care
Evaluation Summary
Company Insights
In addition to being one the country’s largest retailers, Target has more than 40 owned brands that include nearly every kind of product. For purposes of this evaluation we are only including the home-focused product categories that we prioritize. There is a lot of public information about Target’s ingredient safety, sustainability, and accountability efforts. It took us days to sort through it and score all of the evaluation criteria. Our takeaway: We see some credible evidence that the company takes these topics seriously and is taking meaningful action. You won’t be surprised to hear that we also think the company can and should do more on a couple of areas that matter. Compared to some of the multinational companies who make many brands they sell though, we generally think the products that are part of Target’s portfolio of brands offer better options in terms of ingredient safety and sustainability (and likely affordability as well).
Ingredient Safety
Foundational Gaps
Solid Baseline
Strong Performance
Hilde Likes
Benchmarking ingredient safety practices
It is helpful to see that this company has participated in the Chemical Footprint Policy to help benchmark their policies and practices against other companies but they should make the results public
Going beyond regulations
This company’s approach to ingredient safety appears to go beyond regulations to address unregulated or under-regulated chemicals of concern
Opportunities for Improvement
Tackling advanced ingredient safety issues
We would like to see this company build on their solid safety baseline by including laboratory testing and a process for addressing contaminants
Verification of ingredient safety efforts
We think this company should start using or expand the use of high-quality certifications that help verify their claims related to ingredient safety
Category Definition
Our ingredient safety evaluation criteria are designed to help us determine how a company measures, manages, and discloses, the use of chemicals of concern that may be present in raw materials, ingredients, manufacturing processes, and finished products.
Foundational Gaps
The company does not meet sufficient baseline criteria for this category and has many opportunities for improvement.
Solid Baseline
The company meets most of our basic criteria and sometimes demonstrates a deeper commitment than other companies on issues in this category.
Strong Performance:
The company appears to be a top performer in this evaluation category and exhibits leadership on one or more of the issues we evaluate.
Environmental Impact
Foundational Gaps
Solid Baseline
Strong Performance
Hilde Likes
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions
This company reports that their absolute greenhouse gas emissions appear to be declining over time
Using circular design thinking
We appreciate that this company appears to be integrating more circular approaches to designing and making products and packaging to help reduce environmental impacts
Verified environmental impact reduction efforts
This company makes a significant number of products or uses a higher percentage of raw materials and ingredients in their products that feature a higher quality certification related to environmental impacts
Opportunities for Improvement
Crafting a climate transition action plan
Building and publishing a plan for how the company will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve their science-based targets will enhance their credibility with consumers
Category Definition
Our environmental impact reduction evaluation criteria are designed to help us determine how a company measures, manages, and discloses information about the impacts that their operations, products, and supply chain may have on our air, land, water, and ecosystems.
Foundational Gaps
The company does not meet sufficient baseline criteria for this category and has many opportunities for improvement.
Solid Baseline
The company meets most of our basic criteria and sometimes demonstrates a deeper commitment than other companies on issues in this category.
Strong Performance:
The company appears to be a top performer in this evaluation category and exhibits leadership on one or more of the issues we evaluate.
Worker Fairness
Foundational Gaps
Solid Baseline
Strong Performance
Hilde Likes
More supply chain transparency
This company provides some useful information about where they source raw materials and where their products are manufactured
Solid responsible sourcing efforts
This company appears to identify the right priorities and have a credible approach to improving the sustainability of their supply chain.
Opportunities for Improvement
Committing to living wages
This company has the policies and resources in place to make a formal commitment to fair or living wages for their employees and the people in their supply chain
Category Definition
Our worker fairness evaluation criteria are designed to help us determine how a company measures, manages, and discloses information about the way they treat their employees, workers in their supply chain, and other stakeholders.
Foundational Gaps
The company does not meet sufficient baseline criteria for this category and has many opportunities for improvement.
Solid Baseline
The company meets most of our basic criteria and sometimes demonstrates a deeper commitment than other companies on issues in this category.
Strong Performance:
The company appears to be a top performer in this evaluation category and exhibits leadership on one or more of the issues we evaluate.
Accountability
Foundational Gaps
Solid Baseline
Strong Performance
Hilde Likes
Public disclosure and reporting
This company provides helpful disclosure on their efforts through annual reporting on sustainability or ESG topics for consumers or other stakeholders
Opportunities for Improvement
Committing to the ethical use of artificial intelligence
This company should develop and publicly share a policy on ethical use of AI in their company based on a human-rights centered approach
Adopting a context-based approach to sustainability
We think this company is ready to take a leadership position by measuring and managing performance against planetary boundaries and thresholds to assess true operational sustainability
Category Defition
Our corporate accountability evaluation criteria are designed to help us determine how a company integrates sustainability across their organization to help govern decision making and engage with external stakeholders in socially responsible ways.
Foundational Gaps
The company does not meet sufficient baseline criteria for this category and has many opportunities for improvement.
Solid Baseline
The company meets most of our basic criteria and sometimes demonstrates a deeper commitment than other companies on issues in this category.
Strong Performance:
The company appears to be a top performer in this evaluation category and exhibits leadership on one or more of the issues we evaluate.