Corporate Responsibility

The consumer electronics industry has reached a new milestone: It recycled 660 million pounds of used electronics products last year.

The number is the CE industry’s highest ever annual total, and the U.S. is now recycling CE products in record numbers, according to the Fourth Annual Report of the eCycling Leadership Initiative, led by the Consumer Electronics Association.

Specialty retailer Christopher & Banks has come up with an innovative celebration of women to drive traffic this Mother’s Day.

The retailer will solicit nominations for, and select, Amazing Women to be recognized for their selfless giving and positive impact on the lives of those around them. The first search this year will be launched in celebration of Mother's Day with nominations open through May 10.

Phoenix – Local communities in Arizona reportedly can no longer ban plastic bags. According to the Associated Press, the Arizona state legislature has voted to make it illegal for cities and town to forbid the use of plastic bags, as well as Styrofoam containers or other disposable products, within their limits.

The state law also restricts local communities from requiring businesses to report energy usage.

Quincy, Mass. -- Stop & Shop has broken ground on the company’s first anaerobic digester at its distribution center in Freetown, Massachusetts. The state-of-the-art digester will turn food scraps into clean energy.

As part of its sustainability efforts, Stop & Shop plans to donate and divert as much food waste and unsold food as possible to regional food banks and farms. But food that cannot be donated will be sent to the digester. The supermarket retailer has set a long-term goal to divert 90% of waste going to landfills.

The Food 4 Less and Ralph’s divisions of Kroger Co. are asking shoppers in the Southern California area to support the Special Olympics.

The 2015 Special Olympics World Games are coming to Los Angeles this summer, and Ralphs customers and associates can show their support of Special Olympics through the supermarket chain's nonprofit arm, The Ralphs Fund, by donating their spare change in collection canisters located at the checkstands in their neighborhood Ralphs supermarket.

Minneapolis – Doug Baker, CEO of environmental technology firm Ecolab, has been named by Target Corp. as lead independent director of the Target board. Baker, who already serves as an independent director for Target, will replace current independent director Jim Johnson, who is retiring from the board in June after almost 20 years.

Oakville, Canada - Tim Hortons has released its fifth annual Sustainability and Responsibility Report, highlighting the company's 2014 performance results. Key accomplishments in 2014 include:

• Introduced Calorie Aware menu boards across Canada to highlight breakfast products under 350 calories.

• Increased the number of farmers who participated in the Tim Hortons Coffee Partnership Projects to a total of 4,830 farmers.

New York - H&M is number 32 on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) National Top 100 list of the largest green power users. H&M is using nearly 172 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually, which is enough green power to meet 100% of the organization's electricity use.

Chain Store Age recently had the chance to speak with noted consumer trend expert Faith Popcorn, founder and CEO of marketing consulting firm Faith Popcorn’s BrainReserve, about steps McDonald’s can take to reverse its struggling fortunes. Popcorn’s insights come on the heels of McDonald’s reporting a 33% year-over-year drop in profits for first quarter 2015.

Bigger Isn’t Always Better
According to Popcorn, McDonald’s vast size is not necessarily an asset anymore.

Family Dollar Stores Inc. has announced the passing of Mark R. Bernstein, a member of the company's board of directors, on April 27.