Sustainability | Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility

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<strong>Company:</strong>
<p>Apple Computer, Inc.</p>
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<strong>Year:</strong>
<p>2026 </p>
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<strong>Issue Area:</strong>
<p>Environment, Sustainability </p>
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<strong>Focus Area:</strong>
<p>Right to Repair / eWaste </p>
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<strong>Status:</strong>
<p>Withdrawn for Agreement</p>
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<h2>Resolution Text</h2>
<p><strong>WHEREAS</strong>: Electronic waste, or waste from electrical and electronic equipment (e-waste), totaled over 62 billion kg in 2022 and is one of the fastest growing solid waste streams in the world.1 E-waste contains hazardous materials such as mercury, lead and brominated flame retardants, and reports suggest that only 22.3% of e-waste is recycled.2<br><br>The World Economic Forum states that extending the life of electronics is the single most important way to combat e-waste.3 An effective method for increasing the life of electronics and reducing e-waste is by making it easier for consumers to get them repaired to increase products’ usable lifespan.<br><br>In many ways, Apple Inc. is a leader in reducing the environmental impact of its products. However, some of its products cannot be easily repaired. For example, Apple’s AirPods receive a 0 out of 10 repair score from online repair community iFixit because they are almost impossible to repair.4,5 This gap exposes the company to regulatory risk because, under the European Union’s Batteries Regulation law, either consumers and/or independent repair shops will have to be able to remove batteries from electronic products by 2027.6 <br><br>Right to Repair laws also increase regulatory risk for Apple. Eight US states have passed Right to Repair laws for consumer electronics, including California’s Right to Repair Act, which requires manufacturers of electronics to provide consumers and independent repair shops with the parts, tools and documentation needed to fix their own electronics.7, 8<br><br>Failure to make some of its products repairable is also inconsistent with Apple’s brand image as a responsible company, exposing it to reputational risks and risk of market access loss. Research indicates that consumers increasingly want to be able to repair their electronics and support giving independent repair shops the ability to do so rather than restricting repair to the original manufacturer or approved providers.9 If Apple does not redesign products that are not easily repairable, customers may shift purchasing preferences to more easily repairable alternatives.10,11,12<br><br>RESOLVED: Shareholders request that the Board prepare a report, at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information, on whether any of its products have an outsized contribution to e-waste or related financial risks, including regulatory and/or reputational risks for the company and, if so, to recommend steps the company can take to reduce these impacts or risks.</p>
<p>1 https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/electronic-waste-(e-waste)<br>2https://api.globalewaste.org/publications/file/297/Global-E-waste-Monitor-2024.pdf<br>3https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/07/repair-not-recycle-tackle-ewaste-circular-economy-smartphones<br>4 https://www.ifixit.com/Device/AirPods_4<br>5 https://www.vox.com/2023/9/16/23875582/apple-airpod-repair-battery-right-to-repair-act<br>6 https://environment.ec.europa.eu/news/new-law-more-sustainable-circular-and-safe-batteries-enters-force-2023-08-17_en<br>7 https://pirg.org/media-center/release-right-to-repair-passes-overwhelmingly-in-texas/<br>8 https://pirg.org/updates/right-to-repair-now-law-in-texas/<br>9 https://www.themanufacturer.com/articles/high-repair-costs-contributing-to-global-e-waste-crisis-new-report-finds/<br>10 https://www.ifixit.com/News/35377/which-wireless-earbuds-are-the-least-evil<br>11 https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/apr/11/fairphone-fairbuds-review-ethically-made-earbuds-with-replaceable-batteries<br>12 https://www.soundguys.com/how-long-do-airpods-last-55442/</p>

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<div class=”views-field views-field-nothing”><span class=”field-content”> Giovanna Eichner</span></div><div class=”views-field views-field-title views-field-field-shareholder”><span class=”field-content”>Green Century Capital Management, Inc.</span></div>
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<strong>Company:</strong>
<p>Royal Caribbean Cruises</p>
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<strong>Year:</strong>
<p>2026 </p>
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<strong>Issue Area:</strong>
<p>Environment, Sustainability </p>
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<strong>Focus Area:</strong>
<p>GHG Reduction and Targets, Plastics Pollution, Pollution </p>
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<strong>Status:</strong>
<p>Filed</p>
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<h2>Resolution Text</h2>
<p><strong>RESOLVED</strong>: Shareholders request that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (the Company) enhance its sustainability disclosures to provide greater clarity on the pathways, resource commitments and metrics associated with its sustainability commitments.</p>
<p><strong>WHEREAS</strong>:<br>Companies can mitigate regulatory, financial, and litigation risk by ensuring full and accurate disclosure regarding sustainability. Unclear or potentially misleading disclosures can undercut shareholders’ ability to effectively assess and manage risks and may call into question the credibility of company commitments and disclosures.<br><br>While the Company currently discloses some information on its management of environmental risks, the following aspects are unclear:<br><br>• Single-use plastic reduction: The Company first reported a 60% reduction in single-use plastic in its 2019 sustainability report. The Company has continued to disclose the same figure in every sustainability report since then without updating the figure or providing essential context. The disclosure lacks key details such as the baseline year for the measurement and the method of measurement (such as by weight, unit or category), making it difficult to assess what the company has actually achieved.<br><br>• Waste management practices: The Company has disclosed that its waste management practices exceed the standards set by the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL). However, the company’s publicly disclosed Waste Stream Process suggests that it incinerates paper and plastic waste onboard ships and potentially dumps the resulting ash in the ocean. This practice would be inconsistent with MARPOL guidance, which permits burning this waste but prohibits disposing of the ash in the ocean. The company also received a USD $473,685 fine in 2024 from the EPA for improper waste management practices.<br><br>• Net-zero emissions goal: In 2021, the Company disclosed a goal to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and committed to developing targets validated by the Science Based Target Initiative within 2 years. These crucial targets have yet to be disclosed. Transparency surrounding this net-zero emissions goal is particularly important given public reporting that cruise ships, even highly efficient ones, can have higher CO2 emissions per passenger-kilometer than passenger jets.</p>

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<strong>Company:</strong>
<p>BJ's Wholesale</p>
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<strong>Year:</strong>
<p>2026 </p>
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<strong>Issue Area:</strong>
<p>Climate Change, Sustainability </p>
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<strong>Focus Area:</strong>
<p>Climate Change, GHG Reduction and Targets </p>
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<strong>Status:</strong>
<p>Filed</p>
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<h2>Resolution Text</h2>
<p>WHEREAS: Climate change-driven impacts could erase trillions in global GDP by 2050, posing</p>
<p>macroeconomic risks that may substantively depress returns for long-term diversified investors.[1],[2]</p>
<p>Without significant near-term action to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, climate change is predicted to drive severe and costly weather events for many decades.[3],[4] For companies like BJ’s that rely on a consistent supply of high-quality agricultural products, climate change can pose financial risk as droughts, floods, and heat waves increasingly challenge farmers and meat producers in its supply chain .[5],[6] </p>
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<p>In 2021, BJ’s identified its climate strategy, energy consumption, and operational and supply chain GHG emissions as material to its business and subsequently committed to set emissions reduction targets. It later narrowed the scope of its planned targets significantly from its full value chain to its operational emissions. However, in 2025, it abandoned its commitment and removed all sustainability-related disclosure from its website including all previous corporate responsibility reports.   </p>
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<p>This significant reversal raises concerns about company leadership’s execution on its commitments. Further, BJ’s actions are squarely at odds with trends in corporate climate commitments. In its review of 2024 CDP disclosures, PwC writes that, in contrast to recent headlines, companies increased their climate ambition at a rate of 37%, far outweighing those in retreat.[7] The Conference Board draws an identical conclusion, noting that “companies with deep operational integration, value-creation alignment, and stable leadership have proven the most resilient [in keeping their commitments] despite shifting political environments.”[8] </p>
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<p>Moreover, BJ’s industry peers such as Costco, ALDI, Kroger, and Albertson’s have set GHG emissions reduction targets and annually publish progress on sourcing clean energy, reducing refrigerant emissions, and minimizing food waste. BJ’s could do the same.  </p>
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<p>With 30% of the votes cast in favor of this same resolved clause in 2025, we believe it is incumbent upon the company to take concrete steps to respond to investor concerns. In addition, we believe the proposal provides ample flexibility such that board and management can fulfill their respective fiscal responsibilities while driving environmental improvements.  </p>
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<p>RESOLVED: Shareholders request BJ’s issue a report, above and beyond existing disclosures, describing if and how it could increase the scale, pace, and rigor of its GHG emissions reduction efforts. The report should be updated annually, prepared at reasonable cost, and omit proprietary information.</p>
<p>SUPPORTING STATEMENT: In determining relevant content for the report, we recommend, at management’s discretion, taking into consideration:</p>

Approaches used by advisory groups like the Science Based Targets initiative.
Describing strategies, initiatives, metrics, and milestones it could employ to reduce emissions.
The feasibility of setting targets for renewable energy, energy efficiency, and refrigerant emissions reduction and other measures deemed appropriate by management. 

<p> </p>
<p>[1] https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w32450/w32450.pdf</p>
<p>[2] https://www.esgdive.com/news/climate-related-financial-risk-to-more-than-triple-by-2050-lseg/803381/</p>
<p>[3] https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/resources/spm-headline-statements/</p>
<p>[4] https://www.undrr.org/gar/gar2025</p>
<p>[5] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/06/20/climate-change-agriculture-food-supply/84284326007/</p>
<p>[6] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969724011860</p>
<p>[7] https://www.pwc.com/us/en/services/esg/library/assets/pwc-sustainability-decarbonization-2025.pdf</p>
<p>[8] https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2025/05/03/corporate-climate-disclosures-and-practices-risk-emissions-and-targets/</p>
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<h3>Lead Filer</h3>
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<div class=”views-field views-field-nothing”><span class=”field-content”> Andrea Ranger</span></div><div class=”views-field views-field-title views-field-field-shareholder”><span class=”field-content”>Trillium Asset Management Corporation</span></div>
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<strong>Company:</strong>
<p>Target Corp.</p>
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<strong>Year:</strong>
<p>2026 </p>
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<strong>Issue Area:</strong>
<p>Sustainability </p>
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<strong>Focus Area:</strong>
<p>Pesticides </p>
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<strong>Status:</strong>
<p>Filed</p>
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<h2>Resolution Text</h2>
<p>RESOLVED: Shareholders of Target Corporation (“Target”) request that the board of directors issue a report on the presence of pesticides in Target’s private label brands and any efforts to quantify and curtail them, at reasonable cost, focusing on material issues, and omitting proprietary information.</p>
<p>SUPPORTING STATEMENT: While the report’s content is left to the board’s discretion, shareholders recommend the board consider including the following:</p>

If and how the board has oversight of and receives updates regarding pesticide use in agricultural supply chains that pose material, financial, or operational risk to the company or cause harm to human health, pollinators, or the environment.
Type and quantity of pesticides avoided annually through targeted strategies in prioritized crops.
Prioritization of pesticides for reduction or elimination aligned with classifications set by authoritative scientific bodies, including the World Health Organization.[1]
Company targets and timelines, if any, for pesticide reduction.

<p>WHEREAS: Failure to reduce synthetic pesticide use impairs living organisms in the soil that are critical to improving and maintaining soil health and sequestering carbon, key components of a regenerative farming system.[2], [3],[4] </p>
<p>Pesticide and agrichemical exposure is associated with serious health effects in humans from increased risk of cancers to developmental defects in infants and children.[5],[6],[7] Health advocates cite linkage between health harms and exposures to toxic pesticides.[8],[9] Consumers are increasingly aware of and concerned about the harms.[10] These health risks can create financial risks; Bayer incurred over $15 billion in settlements and judgments related to glyphosate-based herbicides, illustrating the scale of financial liability associated with harmful pesticides.[11] </p>
<p>A 2025 study found 29 pesticides in Target’s own-brand baby food, up from 21 found in 2024; 16 of which are classified as highly hazardous to the environment and/or human health.[12],[13] Target lags peers who have set timebound measurable pesticide commitments[14] and faces growing regulatory pressure. In 2024, 19 states considered or enacted 79 pieces of pesticide-regulation legislation.[15]</p>
<p>These collective risks from pesticide use appear to be material given Target’s merchandise composition and exposure throughout its supply chains. In 2024, Target’s net sales from apparel and accessories, food and beverage, and home furnishings and décor – the categories most exposed to pesticide use – totaled over $57 billion, representing about 53 percent of net sales that year.[16]</p>
<p>Target offers minimal disclosures on its approach to managing pesticide pollution. In 2021, Target implemented a policy encouraging suppliers to limit non-essential use of pesticides. Yet, absent timebound or measurable targets, investors and other stakeholders cannot adequately assess the policy’s effectiveness or the board’s oversight. Given Target’s use of Restricted Substance Lists[17] to minimize the use of other prioritized chemicals in its own-brand products, we believe the lack of restrictions on hazardous pesticides is a risk management omission.</p>
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<p>[1] http://pan-international.org/wp-content/uploads/PAN_HHP_List.pdf</p>
<p>[2] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2984095 </p>
<p>[3] https://soilhealthinstitute.org/news-events/nationwide-study-on-30-u-s-farms-shows-positive-economic-impact-of-soil-health-management-systems/ </p>
<p>[4] https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/environmental-science/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2021.643847/full </p>
<p>[5] https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev.publhealth.25.101802.123020#_i34 </p>
<p>[6] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1552-6909.2009.01092.x </p>
<p>[7] https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024GH001236 </p>
<p>[8] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7945198/ </p>
<p>[9] https://www.thecalifornian.com/story/news/local/2025/10/06/monterey-county-pesticide-use-threatens-pregnant-women-advocates/86466185007/ </p>
<p>[10] https://trellis.net/article/health-and-climate-top-consumers-concerns-about-food-system-report-finds/</p>
<p>[11]https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2025-pesticides-us-bayer-roundup/ </p>
<p>[12] https://foe.org/news/toxic-pesticides-still-present-in-targets-baby-food/ </p>
<p>[13] https://foe.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Target-2024-Baby-Food-Test-Results-PDF-Summary-3.pdf </p>
<p>[14] https://foe.org/retailer-report-card/ </p>
<p>[15] https://www.ncelenviro.org/resources/pesticides-briefing-book/ </p>
<p>[16]https://corporate.target.com/investors/annual/2024-annual-report </p>
<p>[17] https://corporate.target.com/sustainability-governance/responsible-resource-use/chemicals </p>

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<div class=”views-field views-field-nothing”><span class=”field-content”> Kate Monahan</span></div><div class=”views-field views-field-title views-field-field-shareholder”><span class=”field-content”>Trillium Asset Management Corporation</span></div>
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<div class=”views-field views-field-nothing”><span class=”field-content”> Karen Watson</span></div><div class=”views-field views-field-title views-field-field-shareholder”><span class=”field-content”>Congregation of St. Joseph, OH*</span></div>
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<div class=”views-field views-field-nothing”><span class=”field-content”> Caroline Boden</span></div><div class=”views-field views-field-title views-field-field-shareholder”><span class=”field-content”>Daughters of Charity, Province of St Louise</span></div>
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<div class=”views-field views-field-nothing”><span class=”field-content”> Laura Krausa</span></div><div class=”views-field views-field-title views-field-field-shareholder”><span class=”field-content”>CommonSpirit Health</span></div>
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<div class=”views-field views-field-nothing”><span class=”field-content”> Caroline Boden</span></div><div class=”views-field views-field-title views-field-field-shareholder”><span class=”field-content”>Mercy Investment Services</span></div>
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<div class=”views-field views-field-nothing”><span class=”field-content”> Caroline Boden</span></div><div class=”views-field views-field-title views-field-field-shareholder”><span class=”field-content”>Adrian Dominican Sisters</span></div>
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<div class=”views-field views-field-nothing”><span class=”field-content”> Caroline Boden</span></div><div class=”views-field views-field-title views-field-field-shareholder”><span class=”field-content”>Bon Secours Mercy Health</span></div>
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<strong>Company:</strong>
<p>Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.</p>
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<strong>Year:</strong>
<p>2025 </p>
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<strong>Issue Area:</strong>
<p>Sustainability </p>
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<strong>Focus Area:</strong>
<p>Recycling </p>
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<strong>Status:</strong>
<p>Filed</p>
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<h2>Resolution Text</h2>
<p>WHEREAS: Plastic, with a lifecycle social cost at least ten times its market price, threatens the world’s oceans, wildlife, and public health.1Of particular concern are micro plastic particles smaller than 5 millimeters in size, which contribute to an estimated 11% of total plastic leakage. As of 2019, an estimated 171 trillion microplastic particles have been released into the world’s oceans.2 The largest source of microplastic leakage into the ocean is tire dust, constituting 78%of leakage mass.3</p>
<p>Studies looking into tire and road wear particles suggest that such chemicals and particles are polluting the air and leaching into bodies of water and surrounding environments. Six million tons of tire wear particles, which can contain toxic chemicals and heavy metals, are released globally each year.4 Large particles are transported by road runoff via rainwater, resulting in the leaching of toxic chemicals and environmental damage; micro and nanoscale tire particles maybe small enough to become airborne and ingested.</p>
<p>Goodyear’s corporate responsibility report states that studies sponsored by the Tire Industry Project, a CEO-led initiative of ten of the world’s major tire companies, have found that tire and road wear particles are “unlikely to have a significant impact on human health and the environment.”5 However, a recent report from Imperial College London refers to “emerging evidence that tyre wear particles and other particulate matter may contribute to a range of negative health impacts including heart, lung, developmental, reproductive, and cancer outcomes.”6In 2020, it was discovered that a chemical used in tire production, 6PPD-quinone, was responsible for a mass die-off of coho salmon on the U.S. West Coast. 7 Another study found that such particles traveling on the wind are an even more significant source of ocean pollution than such particles traveling through rivers.8</p>
<p>To reduce growing reputational risk and mandatory regulations, tire companies should prioritize research and innovation on ways to reduce shedding. New European Commission Euro 7 emissions standards, currently under development, will be the first to regulate tire emissions. Competitor Michelin reports that its research into tire pollution helped it develop tires with 5%less wear emissions over a five-year period. Our Company should at least be able to match this.</p>
<p>BE IT RESOLVED: Shareholders request that the Board adopt policies that result in setting tire wear-shedding reduction goals and timelines.</p>
<p>SUPPORTING STATEMENT: The policies should consider, at Board discretion:</p>

Mounting evidence of harm to animals and human health from tire particles;
The reputational and financial risks of not moving to expeditiously set tire wear shedding goals;
Potential actions necessary to significantly reduce tire shedding.

<p>1 https://wwfint.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wwf_pctsee_report_english.pdf</p>
<p>2 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0281596</p>
<p>3 https://www.pewtrusts.org/-/media/assets/2020/07/breakingtheplasticwave_report.pdf</p>
<p>4 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720313358</p>
<p>5 https://corporate.goodyear.com/content/dam/goodyear-corp/documents/responsibility/Goodyear_CRR_2023-FINAL.pdf</p>
<p>6 https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/243333/prioritise-tackling-toxic-emissions-from-tyres/#:~:text=Tyre%20wear%20particles%20accumulate%20in,to%20this%20type%20of%20pollution;https://spiral.imperial.ac.uk/bitstream/10044/1/101707/9/Tyre%20wear%20particles%20are%20toxic%20for%20us%20and%20the%20environment%200223-2.pdf</p>
<p>7 `https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abd69518https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17201-9</p>
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<h3>Lead Filer</h3>
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<div class=”views-field views-field-nothing”><span class=”field-content”>Mr. Conrad MacKerron</span></div><div class=”views-field views-field-title views-field-field-shareholder”><span class=”field-content”>As You Sow</span></div>
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Resolution Details

Company:

Align Technology Inc.

Year:

2024

Issue Area:

Sustainability

Focus Area:

Chemicals/Toxins

Status:

Filed

Resolution Text

Align Technology’s (“Align” or “the Company”) Invisalign® clear plastic aligners, used by approximately 16,000,000 people, account for over 80% of 2022 revenue.[1] Align states its aligners and retainers “are made of medical-grade, high molecular weight, thermoplastic polymers” selected “based on their properties and safety classification, and have a long history of FDA approvals for long-term use inside the human body.”[2]

FDA approval is necessary but not always sufficient to eliminate material financial risks. For example, while Johnson & Johnson touted that the “FDA agreed overall with the position that we had taken with the safety of our talc”[3] it later settled litigation for “$8.9 billion…to resolve… current and future talc claims…”[4]

Further, regulatory and consumer expectations are increasing in the U.S. and internationally.[5] Currently, 38 states have adopted 333 state policies to protect people from harmful chemicals.[6] The Retail Compliance Center finds, “A growing segment of consumers are demanding that suppliers move beyond compliance and ensure that chemicals in products are not just compliant with existing requirements but are ‘free’ of chemicals of concern.”[7]

Disclosure consistent with voluntary industry standards is necessary to assess whether Align is futureproofing its operations by anticipating potential chemicals-related risks.

Illustrating growing interest in voluntarily and proactively exceeding regulatory expectations, in October 2022, “Clean Production Action unveiled the first GreenScreen Certified™ Standard for Medical Supplies & Devices, laying out detailed criteria [participating] equipment manufacturers must meet to prove that their products do not contain chemicals with known negative impacts to human health and the environment.”[8]

Additionally, the International Sustainability Standards Board (“ISSB”) identifies industry-specific, financially material, decision-useful metrics. For Align’s industry they include: “process to assess and manage environmental and human health considerations associated with chemicals in products, and meet demand for sustainable products.”[9] Further, it encourages disclosure on “specific environmental and human health impacts of its products, including:…[t]oxicity of materials” and includes reference to: “design protocols”, “[p]rocurement policies”,“[r]estricted substances lists”,“[c]ertifications”, and “[p]roduct take-back” policies.[10]

RESOLVED: Shareholders request the Board of Directors issue a public report drawing upon the ISSB’s Medical Equipment Sustainability Accounting Standard—at reasonable expense, excluding confidential and privileged information and within a reasonable timeframe—discussing Company processes and policies to manage potential environmental and human health risks associated with chemicals in Align’s products, as well as related risks to Company operations and finances such as reputation and liability.

SUPPORTING STATEMENT:

The proponent recommends that the report, at board and management discretion, also include a timeline for developing and disclosing a comprehensive chemicals policy that:

identifies chemicals of high concern and establishes a process for their elimination; and
deploys safer alternatives when available.

[1] https://www.invisalign.com/frequently-asked-questions; https://investor.aligntech.com/static-files/da529fe4-23bd-4d19-a56e-43aed753800a

[2] https://www.invisalign.com/frequently-asked-questions

[3] https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-health-fda-talc/

[4] https://www.jnj.com/ltl-update

[5] https://www.pillsburylaw.com/en/news-and-insights/regulate-plastic-pollution-increase-2023.html

[6] https://saferstates.org/

[7] https://rilastagemedia.blob.core.windows.net/rila-web/rila.web/media/media/pdfs/fact-sheet-state-regulations-chemicals-in-consumer-products_1.pdf?ext=.pdf

[8] https://www.cleanproduction.org/resources/entry/greenscreen-certified-standard-for-the-health-care-sector

[9] https://sasb.org/standards/download/?lang=en-us ISSB, Medical Equipment & Supplies Sustainability Accounting Standard V2023-06 p.6,

[10] Ibid, p.16, 17

Resolution Details

Company:

Hormel Foods Corp.

Year:

2024

Issue Area:

Sustainability

Focus Area:

Plastics Pollution

Status:

Filed

Resolution Text

WHEREAS: The growing plastic pollution and packaging waste crises pose increasing risks to Hormel Foods. Corporations could face an annual financial risk of approximately $100 billion should governments require them to cover the waste management costs of the packaging they produce.1Laws to this effect have significant momentum, having been recently been adopted in four U.S. states, with additional introduced at the state and federal level.2 The European Union has already enacted a $1 per kilogram tax on all non-recycled plastic packaging waste.3 Additionally, consumer demand for sustainable packaging is increasing.4

A circular economy for packaging, whereby packaging is designed for reuse or recycling and kept in the economy and out of the environment, plays an important role in a net-zero emissions world. Hormel states it is committed to emissions reductions,5 yet lacks commitments to ensure the circularity of its product packaging,6 even though its sold products and packaging contribute significantly to Scope 3 emissions at their end-of-life(“EOL”).7

More than 100 leading companies have committed to promoting a circular economy for packaging by acknowledging responsibility for the collection, sorting, and recycling of packaging at EOL, a policy known as Extended Producer Responsibility (“EPR”).8Absentlegally mandated EPR, companies must make voluntary contributions to improve the collection and recycling of their packaging.

The Recycling Partnership (“TRP”), the leading recycling organization, finds that $17 billion is needed to modernize and expand recycling infrastructure, and that doing so will save the equivalent of 710 million metric tons of CO2 over ten years.9 To improve plastic recycling infrastructure, TRP recommends that companies contribute at least $88 for every metric ton of plastic used.10

Competitors Kraft Heinz, Kellogg’s, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble and at least 25 other companies make voluntary contributions to expand recycling infrastructure, a critical step in embracing EPR.11 Hormel is not known to voluntarily contribute to help ensure its packaging never becomes waste.12

Hormel received an “F” grade on a recent report evaluating corporate packaging sustainability for its failure to financially support recycling infrastructure, endorse EPR, explore reuse opportunities, and make all packaging recyclable.13

Our Company could avoid regulatory, environmental, and competitive risks by adopting a circular economy approach to packaging and financially contributing to recycling infrastructure.

BE IT RESOLVED: Shareholders request that the Board issue a report, at reasonable expense and excluding proprietary information, describing opportunities for Hormel to support a circular economy for packaging.

SUPPORTING STATEMENT: The report should assess, at Board discretion:

The reputational, financial, and operational risks associated with failing to promote a circular economy for packaging;
The potential to increase packaging recyclability and transition to reusable packaging; and
Opportunities to develop policies or goals to endorse EPR and determine an appropriate level of voluntary financial contributions to recycling infrastructure.

1 https://www.pewtrusts.org/-/media/assets/2020/07/breakingtheplasticwave_report.pdf , p. 9

2 https://www.packworld.com/news/business-intelligence/article/22861621/extended-producer-responsibility-legislation-emerging-in-us

3 https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/eu-budget/long-term-eu-budget/2021-2027/revenue/own-resources/plastics-own-resource_en

4 https://www.shorr.com/resources/blog/the-2022-sustainable-packaging-consumer-report/

5 https://csr.hormelfoods.com/environment/greenhouse-gas-emissions/

6 https://www.asyousow.org/report-page/plastic-pollution-scorecard-2021/data-visualization

7 https://ghgprotocol.org/scope-3-technical-calculation-guidance

8 https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/extended-producer-responsibility/overview?_ga=2.194255722.613184023.1673367048-710010554.1662564816&_gl=1*18c5mjb*_ga*NzEwMDEwNTU0LjE2NjI1NjQ4MTY.*_ga_V32N675KJX*MTY3MzM2NzA0OC4xNC4wLjE2NzMzNjcwNDguNjAuMC4w

9 https://recyclingpartnership.org/paying-it-forward/

10 https://plasticiq.org/

11 https://www.asyousow.org/report-page/plastic-pollution-scorecard-2021/ , p. 17

12 https://www.asyousow.org/report-page/plastic-pollution-scorecard-2021/data-visualization

13 https://www.asyousow.org/report-page/plastic-pollution-scorecard-2021/ , p. 5

Resolution Details

Company:

Hershey Company

Year:

2024

Issue Area:

Sustainability

Focus Area:

Plastics Pollution, Recycling

Status:

Filed

Resolution Text

WHEREAS: The growing plastic pollution and packaging waste crises pose increasing risks to The Hershey Company. Corporations could face an annual financial risk of approximately $100billion should governments require them to cover the waste management costs of the packaging they produce.1Laws to this effect have significant momentum, having been recently adopted in four U.S. states with additional legislation introduced at the state and federal level.2 The European Union has already enacted a $1 per kilogram tax on all non-recycled plastic packaging waste.3 Additionally, consumer demand for sustainable packaging is increasing.4

A circular economy for packaging, whereby packaging stays in the economy and out of the environment, plays an important role in a net-zero emissions world. Hershey’s acknowledges that its product packaging plays a significant role in reducing its Scope 3 emissions,5yet has taken insufficient action in ensuring its end-of-life packaging is recycled at scale.6

More than 100 leading companies have committed to promoting a circular economy for packaging by acknowledging responsibility for the collection, sorting, and recycling of packaging at end-of-life, a policy known as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).7 Hershey’s cites insufficient recycling infrastructure as a barrier to setting new packaging sustainability targets, yet fails to acknowledge and act on its responsibility to improve recycling systems as other companies have done.

In the absence of legislated EPR, companies must voluntarily contribute to improve the collection and recycling of their packaging. Leading estimates find that $17 billion is needed to modernize and expand recycling infrastructure.8 To meet this figure for plastics alone, companies must contribute at least $88 for every metric ton of plastic used.9

Competitor Nestlé and at least 28 other major consumer goods companies make voluntary contributions to expand recycling infrastructure.10 Hershey’s is not known to voluntarily contribute to help ensure its packaging never becomes waste.

Hershey’s also received an “F” grade on As You Sow’s recent report evaluating corporate packaging sustainability in part for its failure to financially support recycling infrastructure and endorse EPR.11

Our Company could avoid regulatory, environmental, and competitive risks by adopting a circular economy approach to packaging and contributing to recycling infrastructure.

BE IT RESOLVED: Shareholders request that the Board issue a report, at reasonable expense and excluding proprietary information, describing opportunities for Hershey’s to support a circular economy for packaging at its end-of-life.

SUPPORTING STATEMENT: The report should assess, at Board discretion:

The reputational, financial, and operational risks associated with failing to promote a circular economy for packaging at its end-of-life;
The potential to increase packaging recyclability and transition to reusable packaging; and
Opportunities to develop policies or goals to endorse EPR and determine an appropriate level of voluntary financial contributions to recycling infrastructure.

1 https://www.pewtrusts.org/-/media/assets/2020/07/breakingtheplasticwave_report.pdf , p. 9

2 https://www.packworld.com/news/business-intelligence/article/22861621/extended-producer-responsibility-legislation-emerging-in-us

3 https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/eu-budget/long-term-eu-budget/2021-2027/revenue/own-resources/plastics-own-resource_en

4 https://www.shorr.com/resources/blog/the-2022-sustainable-packaging-consumer-report/

5 https://www.thehersheycompany.com/content/dam/hershey-corporate/documents/pdf/hershey-2022-esg-report.pdf , p. 71

6 https://www.asyousow.org/report-page/plastic-pollution-scorecard-2021/data-visualization

7 https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/extended-producer-responsibility/overview?_ga=2.194255722.613184023.1673367048-710010554.1662564816&_gl=1*18c5mjb*_ga*NzEwMDEwNTU0LjE2NjI1NjQ4MTY.*_ga_V32N675KJX*MTY3MzM2NzA0OC4xNC4wLjE2NzMzNjcwNDguNjAuMC4w

8 https://recyclingpartnership.org/paying-it-forward/

9 https://plasticiq.org/

10 https://www.asyousow.org/report-page/plastic-pollution-scorecard-2021/ , p. 17

11 https://www.asyousow.org/report-page/plastic-pollution-scorecard-2021/ , p. 5

Resolution Details

Company:

Yum! Brands, Inc.

Year:

2024

Issue Area:

Environment, Sustainability

Focus Area:

Plastics Pollution, Recycling

Status:

Filed

Resolution Text

WHEREAS: Without immediate and sustained new commitments throughout the plastics value chain, annual flows of plastics into oceans could nearly triple by 2040.

The growing plastic pollution crisis poses increasing risks to YUM! Brands. Corporations could face an annual financial risk of approximately $100 billion should governments require them to cover the waste management costs of the packaging they produce. Such policies addressed at single-use plastic (SUP) packaging increasingly are being enacted globally, including new laws in Maine, Oregon, Colorado, and California. The European Union has banned ten SUP products commonly found in ocean cleanups and imposed a tax on non-recycled plastic packaging waste.

Pew Charitable Trusts’ groundbreaking study, Breaking the Plastic Wave, concluded that improved recycling alone is insufficient to address plastic pollution–instead, recycling must be coupled with reductions in use, materials redesign, and substitution. At least one-third of plastic use can be reduced, and reduction is the most viable solution from environmental, economic, and social perspectives.

YUM! has a goal to reduce virgin plastic by 10% over a 2020 baseline yet does not publish the tonnage of plastic used in the baseline year nor any strategies to achieve this goal, leaving investors unable to verify progress.

Nearly 100 consumer goods and retail companies have committed to taking meaningful action towards reusables and make all packaging recyclable, compostable, or reusable. In 2024, competitor McDonald’s will publish an assessment of opportunities for reusable packaging. The report may include possible new actions and potential goal frameworks on reusables. Starbucks is also actively embracing reusable packaging with new global reusable container goals, having committed that all stores and drive-throughs will facilitate reusables beginning 2024. By contrast, YUM!, despite stated intentions, has taken little public action to invest in reusables and lacks a timebound and quantifiable goal for entirely recyclable, compostable, and reusable packaging.

More than one-third of YUM! investors supported a 2023 shareholder proposal urging the Company reduce its plastics use through permanently embracing reusables. YUM! has failed to meaningfully respond. The Company can reduce reputational and regulatory risk by addressing plastic pollution through strong investment in reusables.

BE IT RESOLVED: Shareholders request that the Board issue a report, at reasonable expense and excluding proprietary information, describing how YUM! can reduce its plastics use by shifting away from single-use packaging in alignment with the findings of the Pew Report or other authoritative sources.

SUPPORTING STATEMENT: The report should, at Board discretion:

Assess the reputational, financial, and operational risks associated with continuing to use substantial amounts of SUP packaging;

Evaluate significantly reducing the amount of plastic used in our packaging by transitioning to reusables; and

Describe how YUM! can further reduce SUP, including any planned reduction strategies or goals, materials redesign, substitution, or reductions in overall plastic use.

Resolution Details

Company:

Chemed Corporation

Year:

2024

Issue Area:

Sustainability

Focus Area:

Risk Management

Status:

Filed

Resolution Text

RESOLVED: Shareholders request Chemed Corporation issue a report describing the practices, goals, and metrics it utilizes to assess performance managing potentially material environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks and opportunities. The report should be updated annually, prepared at reasonable cost, and omit proprietary information.

WHEREAS: Regardless of company size or industry, public sustainability reporting on material ESG risks and opportunities can contribute to long-term business success and creation of shareholder value by helping companies better recognize operational efficiencies, enhance competitiveness, and identify new revenue generating opportunities. It can also help companies attract and retain talent, build brand and reputational value, and better manage an evolving regulatory landscape.

Although Chemed Corporation (“Chemed”, or the “Company”) includes high-level policies on its website related to topics such as human rights, business ethics, and environmental impacts, it lacks further transparency regarding the implementation, monitoring practices, and outcomes of such policies. Neither the VITAS nor Roto-Rooter operating businesses publish relevant sustainability disclosures.

The lack of enterprise-wide ESG disclosure at Chemed hinders the ability of investors to enhance the risk-adjusted returns of portfolios through integration of financially material ESG performance data. Although the Company’s annual report touches upon the importance to the business of topics such as human capital, cybersecurity, and ethical business practices, the discussion is at a high level and lacks decision-useful data points to understand the effectiveness of risk management policies and practices.

The need for enhanced disclosure of ESG risk and opportunity management is underscored by recent events:

In 2022, Chemed completed a five-year Corporate Integrity Agreement (CIA) connected with a $75,000,000 settlement to resolve False Claims Act litigation brought by the US Department of Justice in 2017. Despite 95% of the VITAS segment revenues consist of payments from Medicare and Medicaid, Chemed has yet to comprehensively detail its strategy to avoid future regulatory penalties related to fraud.
The turnover rate for clinical healthcare workers spiked during the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. VITAS has sought to stem turnover by implementing a hiring and retention bonus program at an estimated cost of $23,800,000 in 2023 yet lacks associated turnover data to enable investors to understand the efficacy of such investments.

Within the health care delivery industry, peers such as Acadia Healthcare, Amedisys Inc., DaVita Inc., HCA Healthcare, and Tenet Healthcare Corp have all responded to evolving investor expectations by regularly reporting on sustainability risks, opportunities, and associated metrics.

SUPPORTING STATEMENT: In determining relevant content for the report, we recommend, at management’s discretion, consideration of the following:

Utilization of recognized frameworks, such as SASB Standards, to ensure consistent, comparable, and decision-useful disclosures,
Quantitative, timebound goals for improvement against baseline performance, and
Discussion of how sustainability considerations are integrated into business strategies and operational decisions.