How does Lowe's rank on toxic chemicals?

D-

Lowe’s earned a D- grade, scoring 20 out of 135 possible points, reflecting a slight decline from its D grade in 2016, and resulting in a rank of 19th among 30 retailers. The company has started to take some action to address toxic chemicals in the products it sells, but still has much room for improvement. Lowe’s has no public safer chemicals policy. Lowe’s adopted a policy to eliminate phthalates in its flooring by the end of 2015, the second largest home improvement retailer in the country to adopt such a policy, and flooring “represented $3.2 billion in sales for Lowe’s last year, or 6% of its $56 billion total revenues.” Lowe’s actions helped lead to a major ripple effect among other large home improvement and flooring retailers who joined the market shift away from phthalates in flooring. The company has not announced any major new safer chemicals initiatives since then.

Opportunities for improvement: Lowe’s should leverage this success by phasing out phthalates in all other vinyl products it sells, develop a written safer chemicals policy, and set public quantifiable goals with clear timelines for reducing and eliminating additional chemicals of high concern such as methylene chloride and NMP in paint strippers. Lowe’s should become a signatory to the Chemical Footprint Project and pilot it with key private label suppliers. Lowe’s should also pilot the Health Product Declaration with suppliers.

Summary of Lowe’s Grade

0 out of 15 points

Policy: Adopted a retailer safer chemicals policy

Explanation of Points

Lowe’s has no public written safer chemicals policy, has not set public quantifiable goals for reducing and eliminating chemicals of high concern and does not have a publicly available Beyond Restricted Substance List (BRSL) or publicly available Manufacturing Restricted Substance List (MSRL).

2.5 out of 10 points

Oversight: Established management responsibilities and incentives

Explanation of Points

A corporate manager has explicit responsibility for product safety related to chemical hazards in products. In its most recent sustainability report the company announced, “in 2016, Lowe’s established a Sustainability and Product Stewardship Council to oversee sustainability priorities, and the company intends to launch an enhanced sustainability strategy enterprise-wide this year.” The staff also noted that “[t]he council is composed of 14 representatives from business functions across our operations, chaired by five corporate executives and led by Chief Operating Officer Rick Damron. The council meets monthly and oversees the implementation of our sustainability strategy.”

It is not clear if a chemical policy is included in job descriptions, if the board is engaged in a chemical policy, or if there are financial incentives for senior management to implement safer chemical policies.

2.5 out of 10 points

Accountability: Ensures supply chain accountability

Explanation of Points

In its most recent sustainability report Lowe’s stated it has “established policies and procedures with our suppliers to remove ortho-phthalate plasticizers from residential vinyl flooring products that we sell” and the company conducts their own testing on an annual basis to ensure compliance down to “non detect” levels. The company also conducts annual testing for wood flooring (laminate/composite wood and bamboo) to ensure compliance with both CDPH 1350 for VOC’s and CARB requirements for formaldehyde nationally. The company notes, “when there are state-specific regulations on chemical composition, we test to ensure national compliance.” They state, “in 2016, more than 13,000 product tests were conducted in 87 third-party labs around the world. The Quality Assurance team also works closely with third-party agencies to conduct pre shipment product inspections prior to acceptance by Lowe’s. Products are inspected for proper labeling, functional operation and consistency across production samples to help ensure customer satisfaction. In 2016, factories were visited nearly 11,000 times to perform these pre shipment product inspections.”

The company has, however, not specifically disclosed initiatives to audit or train suppliers to ensure supplier conformance with its initiatives around chemicals.

0 out of 10 points

Disclosure: Requires suppliers to report use of chemicals in products to retailer

Explanation of Points

In their most recent sustainability report the company stated, “by better understanding the chemicals in our products, we can seek safer alternatives without sacrificing quality, efficacy or affordability” but did not describe how they collect information about chemicals of concern in products.

6 out of 15 points

Action: Reduced or eliminated chemicals of high concern within the last three years

Explanation of Points

Lowe’s was the second major U.S. retailer to work with suppliers to eliminate all ortho-phthalates in residential vinyl flooring, one of the largest uses globally. Lowe’s enforces the California formaldehyde restrictions for all laminate, engineered, and bamboo flooring categories. The company also restricts lead to 600 parts per million (ppm) in surface coating for all products, not just regulated items. The resulting reductions in formaldehyde and lead were not quantified, thus resulting in only partial credit. Lowe’s has not disclosed additional initiatives to reduce chemicals of concern since 2015.

0 out of 10 points

Safer Alternatives: Evaluates safer alternatives, avoids regrettable substitutes

Explanation of Points

No discernible approach or public commitment to safer alternatives in products, packaging or operations.

0 out of 15 points

Transparency: Demonstrates a commitment to transparency and public disclosure

Explanation of Points

Lowe’s has no public safer chemicals policy or Beyond Restricted Substance List (BRSL).

Lowe’s does not appear to encourage or require the disclosure of ingredients in products sold online or on product packaging or publicly disclose the identity of articles or formulated products that are free of chemicals of high concern going beyond regulatory compliance.

0 out of 7.5 points

Chemical Footprint: Evaluates its chemical footprint

Explanation of Points

No discernible progress on chemical footprint.

1.5 out of 7.5 points

Third-party Standards: Promotes credible third party standards for safer products

Explanation of Points

Lowe’s requires flooring products be certified to either Greenguard or FloorScore standards to meet CDPH-1350 standards for volatile organic compounds (VOCs). While these certification programs are primarily oriented around meeting a California regulatory standard, Lowe’s requires suppliers meet this certification nationally.

Extra Credit:

2.5 out of 5 points

Joint Announcement: Public commitment demonstrated through joint announcement

Explanation of Points

Announcement on phasing out ortho-phthalates in vinyl flooring.

0 out of 15 points

Continuous Improvement: Shows continuous improvement by steadily expanding safer chemicals policy

Explanation of Points

No discernible pattern of significant, consistent, or long-term improvements over time or over the past year.

0 out of 5 points

Safer Products: Program to promote safer products in stores and/or on website

Explanation of Points

No discernible program to feature and market safer products on store shelves and/or website.

5 out of 5 points

Collaboration: Actively participates in collaborative process to promote safer chemicals

Explanation of Points

Lowe’s is active in the Green Chemistry & Commerce Council’s (GC3) Retailer Leadership Council (RLC) and stated in their most recent sustainability report they “are leveraging this collaboration to help inform our product decision making moving forward.”

0 out of 5 points

Impact Investment: Investing financial resources into independent research into safer alternatives and/or green chemistry solutions

Explanation of Points

No indication that company invests significant financial resources into independent research into safer alternatives to chemicals of high concern and/or green chemistry solutions

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