Home Depot reduced carbon emissions by 172 000 metric tons

The Home Depot reduced its combined Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by approximately 172 000 metric tons in 2021. That’s equivalent to taking more than 37 000 cars off the road for a year, the world’s leading home improvement retailer writes in a statement. Electricity consumption was reduced in 2021 by approximately 11 per cent year-over-year in U.S. stores, at the same time as five new stores were opened. In total, the U.S. store electricity usage has been cut by 50 per cent since 2010. The numbers are taken out of the The Home Depot 2022 ESG Report.

The company is committed to reducing its Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon dioxide emissions by 2.1 per cent per year to achieve a 40 per cent reduction by 2030 and a 50 per cent reduction by 2035. Furthermore, the Home Depot has the goal of producing or procuring 100 per cent renewable electricity for all Home Depot facilities worldwide by 2030 as well as producing or procuring 335 megawatts of renewable or alternative energy by 2025. In 2021, the retailer decreased its Scope 1 and 2 carbon intensity by investments in efficiency to achieve a 21 per cent reduction in the carbon dioxide emitted for each dollar of revenue the company earned, compared to 2020.

Besides the environmental goals, Home Depot paid record Fiscal 2021 Success Sharing bonuses to non-management associates of approximately USD 739 mio. (approx. EUR 727.62 mio). According to a statement, the company's U.S. associate base was most recently more ethnically diverse than the U.S. working population. Approximately 36 per cent of the company’s new recruits were women, and more than 57 per cent were ethnically diverse in 2021.