Best Buy earns zero-waste supply chain certifications
Best Buy Co. Inc. is moving closer toward its goal of earning TRUE (Total Resource Use and Efficiency) certification for all supply chain locations by 2025.
Six new Best Buy supply chain facilities have earned TRUE certification for zero-waste in 2024. To earn the certification, each building must divert more than 90% of its waste from landfills.
A total of 20 Best Buy supply chain facilities have earned TRUE certification for zero waste, which brings the company to 69% of facilities that have been certified. The latest certified facilities are:
- Bellingham, Wash.
- Bloomington, Minn.
- Bolingbrook, Ill.
- Flower Mound, Texas
- Missouri City, Texas
- Piscataway, N.J.
TRUE is a designation from Green Business Certification Inc., the organization behind the LEED green building rating system, designed to help organizations define, pursue and achieve zero-waste goals. Best Buy aims to achieve 85% waste diversion across its U.S. operations by 2025 and reached 67% waste diversion in 2023.
To reach zero-waste certification at its supply chain facilities, Best Buy had groups of dedicated employees form "green teams" to launch several new waste initiatives, including the implementation of color-coded containers and labels throughout its office, lunchroom and warehouse environments to help employees recycle.
There are now green teams in all Best Buy supply chain locations. In addition to reducing waste in its operations, the retailer is working toward becoming carbon neutral by 2040 and has lowered its emissions 69% since 2009.
[READ MORE: Best Buy achieves zero-waste certification for more facilities]
Other Best Buy sustainability and recycling efforts include a nationwide program that lets customers order a prepaid Best Buy technology recycling box and use it to ship off old electronics items for recycling, as well as a collaboration with Microsoft to recycle laptops and tablets.
In April 2022, the retailer launched a program that picks up consumer electronics for recycling at customers’ homes. Through the service, Best Buy will refurbish and resell items or recycle them if they cannot be resold.
Furthermore, there is the Best Buy Standalone Haul-Away service the retailer offers to customers when they purchase a new TV, major appliance or select fitness equipment, and want to recycle the product they’re replacing.
Based in Minneapolis, Best Buy operates more than 1,000 retail stores in North America.
