Trillium’s Advocacy Impact Report – Second Half 2022
Disney and Costco’s COC commitments have the potential to make meaningful positive impacts on adult and children’s health and the environment… their efforts to engage suppliers on eliminating COCs and moving toward safer alternatives can lead to reductions of some of the most problematic COCs.
In August [2022], Trillium and co-filers Mercy Investment Services and Newground Social Investment filed a shareholder proposal at Costco asking the company to report on the outcomes of its chemical reduction efforts by publishing quantitative and qualitative data on progress made toward eliminating the use of chemicals of concern (“COCs”).
The reasons for filing the proposal are multifold, but to start there has been a fiftyfold increase in the production of chemicals since 1950, and this is projected to triple again by 2050 according to researchers at the Stockholm Environmental Institute. At the same time, research is exposing the potential destabilizing impacts of synthetic chemicals to the Earth and human health. In addition, the cost of poor chemical management and the long-term impacts of chemicals can raise significant concerns for investors.
After a series of in-depth discussions, in November we were able to successfully withdraw the proposal after the company published significant revisions to the Chemical Management section of its Sustainability Commitment. Before our filing, Costco did not disclose quantitative data to allow stakeholders to assess its chemical management strategy. The new disclosures show that Costco is tracking and reducing COCs across several categories including apparel and footwear, sporting goods, luggage, handbags, and home textiles. In 2021, 81% of more than 7,000 suppliers in these categories showed no COCs, a 16.8% improvement over the 2020 supplier report. Costco is also tracking and disclosing chemical reduction in packaging and labeling materials, where PFAS (“forever chemicals”), BPA, and phthalates are commonly found. Finally, for the first time, Costco disclosed lists of chemicals it is restricting across multiple product categories, supporting accountability and rigor in its process.
Trillium also filed a similar shareholder proposal at The Walt Disney Company this fall – this time with co-filers Portico Benefit Services and Trinity Health. This proposal also led to conversations with the company and a commitment to take several actions in 2023 to enhance its disclosures and strategy to reduce priority chemicals. Included in the disclosures, Disney will address its baseline and how the company will track improvement, and provide information on what it considers as safer alternatives. With all of these commitments made, Trillium was able to withdraw the shareholder proposal. In short, what Disney and Costco are doing has the potential to have meaningful positive impacts on adult and children’s health and the environment. As retailers of textiles, furniture, toys, and apparel (all product lines with high chemical risk), their efforts to engage suppliers on eliminating COCs and moving toward safer alternatives can lead to reductions of some of the most problematic COCs.