Home Depot

In 2017, The Home Depot announced its Chemical Strategy. It includes commitments to restrict hazardous chemicals of concern, such as flame retardants, PFAS, phthalates, vinyl chloride, and triclosan, from key product categories, including paints, vinyl and laminate flooring, wall-to-wall carpet, and fiberglass insulation. The company stated: “The chemical strategy includes commitments to increase the assortment of products that have transparency of product ingredients and third-party certification of chemical ingredients. Additionally, the company is committed to working with suppliers to improve chemicals in categories with the greatest potential impact to indoor air quality, and will conduct annual reviews of product categories to track progress and drive innovation.” The policy includes a commitment to eliminate alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEOs) and nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs) in paint by 2019 and to ensure that all of its paints contain zero or low amounts of VOC by December 2020.

In April 2018, the company expanded its Chemical Strategy by announcing restrictions on nine chemicals from household cleaning products sold online and in The Home Depot stores by the end of 2022. In June 2018, the company announced it was phasing out the sale of paint strippers containing methylene chloride and NMP by the end of 2018 in all of its stores throughout the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

The Home Depot Chemical Strategy does not appear to apply to packaging or operations, and the company does not have a publicly available Manufacturing Restricted Substance List (MRSL).

The Home Depot has multiple staff that work on sustainability, including chemicals.

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

For some products and product categories under its Chemical Strategy, The Home Depot requires suppliers to meet certain third-party standards that require third-party laboratory testing. For example, “All indoor wall-to-wall carpet sold through The Home Depot U.S. and Canada has a third-party verification of transparency through DECLARE® Label or Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), or certification of material health through Cradle to Cradle™ Products Innovation Institute or CRI Green Label Plus®.” For laminate flooring, “it is verified by either GREENGUARD Gold or FloorScore certification to contain 0.0073 ppm or less of formaldehyde, which is a stricter standard than CARB 2 of 0.05 ppm.”

The Home Depot has otherwise not reported on programs to audit suppliers, train suppliers, or conduct testing to ensure supplier conformance with The Home Depot’s Chemical Strategy.

Transparency is a key element of The Home Depot’s Chemical Strategy. The company states: “The Home Depot is committed to increasing our assortment of products that have transparency of product ingredients and third-party certification of chemical ingredients and that meet high environmental standards.” The Home Depot states that for wall-to-wall carpeting, “all indoor wall-to-wall carpet sold through The Home Depot U.S. and Canada has a third-party verification of transparency through DECLARE Label or Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), or certification of material health through Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute or CRI Green Label Plus.” Points awarded for business to consumer transparency for this initiative were awarded under the Transparency criterion.

However, The Home Depot does not appear to be requiring suppliers to disclose chemical ingredients directly to the company for evaluation beyond OSHA Safety Data Sheet requirements or other compliance purposes.

The Home Depot’s expanded Chemical Strategy sets restrictions on numerous chemicals of concern in household cleaning products, paint strippers, paints, vinyl flooring, laminate flooring, wall-to-wall carpeting, and fiberglass insulations. In 2018, the company set new timelines to remove toxic chemicals from paint strippers and household cleaning products. The company was the third major retailer to announce restrictions on chemicals in paint strippers.

In 2017, the company announced it has been working with its suppliers to reduce and eliminate nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs) and other alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEOs), among other chemicals, in paints by 2019. Other restricted chemicals include phthalates, flame retardants, triclosan, formaldehyde, lead, vinyl chloride, PFOA, PFOS and fly ash. A number of these restrictions have been achieved over the past three years.

The Home Depot was the first major home improvement retailer globally to commit to phase out all ortho-phthalates in its vinyl flooring within one year’s time, setting a major precedent for other home improvement chains and flooring retailers who followed suit in 2015. This is very significant as flooring was one of the biggest uses of phthalates worldwide.

The company has also reported progress in reducing chemicals of concern in packaging. In last year’s sustainability report, the company reported it has removed more than 341,000 cubic feet of EPS foam from its packaging, which is equivalent to 351 greyhound buses. This was done in its private label holiday product assortment with recyclable materials such as molded pulp and paper. In its most recent sustainability report, the company pledged to remove 79,500 pounds of PVC packaging going forward. Over the years, the company has also reported that it removed and reduced VOC’s from interior paint sold at The Home Depot, reducing indoor pollutants by 27 million pounds per year.

The Home Depot has not developed clear public guidance for evaluating the safety of alternatives, but the company has committed to selling products that are “safer for the environment.” The company is promoting safer alternatives by encouraging suppliers to manufacture products to credible third-party standards, such as Cradle to Cradle and Safer Choice. For paint strippers, the company has “committed to working with suppliers and the EPA to identify alternatives with comparable efficacy that do not pose risks to human and environmental health.”

In 2017, The Home Depot published its Chemical Strategy on its website and in its Sustainability Report. The Strategy includes lists of ingredients that the company restricts in paints, vinyl flooring, laminate flooring, wall-to-wall carpeting, and fiberglass insulation. In 2018, the company expanded its Chemical Strategy by disclosing chemicals it is restricting in cleaning products and paint strippers.

Transparency is a key element of The Home Depot’s new Chemical Strategy. The company states: “The Home Depot is committed to increasing our assortment of products that have transparency of product ingredients and third-party certification of chemical ingredients and that meet high environmental standards.” The company states that “all indoor wall-to-wall carpet sold through The Home Depot U.S. and Canada has a third-party verification of transparency through DECLARE Label or Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), or certification of material health through Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute or CRI Green Label Plus.” Ingredient information recorded through these programs can be challenging for consumers to find. Additionally, while this is notable, environmental product declarations do not always provide sufficient information about chemicals in products.

Partial credit is awarded as it is unclear how far this will promote the disclosure of ingredients in products online or on product packaging or lead to the disclosure of the identity of articles or formulated products that are free of chemicals of high concern going beyond regulatory compliance.

No discernible progress on chemical footprint.

The Home Depot sells and features numerous products on its website that meet credible third-party standards such as Safer Choice, Cradle to Cradle, and GreenGuard Gold through its Eco Options program. In its new Chemical Strategy, the company stated it “is committed to increasing [its] assortment of products that have…third-party certification of chemical ingredients” and that it is “expanding its Eco Options program…to include the third-party certification programs Cradle to Cradle Certified™ and GREENGUARD® Gold.”

The Home Depot briefed the Mind the Store campaign in advance of its public announcement banning methylene chloride and NMP in paint strippers in June 2018.

In 2018, The Home Depot significantly expanded its policy by announcing new restrictions on nine chemicals in cleaning products, and a ban on the sale of paint strippers containing methylene chloride and NMP in all of its stores by the end of 2018.

The Home Depot’s Chemical Strategy includes a commitment to selling more products that are safer and meet credible third-party standards. Some of those products and standards are featured in its new sustainability report. The company states it “sell[s] a variety of products and recognizes [its] unique responsibility in helping improve products through the promotion of safer chemicals.” Home Depot’s Eco Options program makes it easier for customers to identify safer products, such as cleaning products certified by Safer Choice as well as other products to promote “healthy homes” and “clean air.” In October 2017, the company announced it is “expanding its Eco Options program…to include the third-party certification programs Cradle to Cradle Certified™ and GREENGUARD® Gold.” The company also states that as “a part of the company’s sustainability strategy, merchants and suppliers place a priority on products that feature reduced environmental impacts. The company reviews the collective impact of those products annually for sustainable forestry practices, energy and emissions reduction, material reduction, water savings, and chemical use reduction.”

The Home Depot “supports the work of the Green Chemistry & Commerce Council (GC3) through annual membership and participation in the Retail Leadership Council of the GC3, and [it] participated in developing the GC3’s Joint Statement on using Green Chemistry and Safer Alternatives to Advance Sustainable Products.”

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