Target

Mar 25, 2022

Target is an American retailer founded in 1902 in Minneapolis, United States, by George Dayton. The multinational retail company offers fast fashion for women, men, and children.

Target sells clothing, accessories, shoes, and beauty. The American department store chain owns other unique brands, such as Spritz, Cat & Jack, Everspring, Universal Thread, Kindfull, Auden, All in Motion, and more.

Target's sustainability strategy is called Target Forward: leveraging our size and scale to benefit people, the planet, and our business. It wants to create an equitable and regenerative future.

Target now carries clothes, accessories, and footwear made from recycled and more responsibly sourced materials. It aims to be the market leader for creating and curating inclusive, sustainable brands by 2030.

Panaprium is proud to be 100% independent, free of any influence, and not sponsored. We carefully handpick products from brands we trust. Thank you so much for buying something through our link, as we may earn a commission that supports us.

Sustainability Rating: 5/10

Rating FAQ

Category: Clothing, accessories, shoes, bags

For: Women, men, children

Type: Basics, denim, knitwear, activewear, underwear, loungewear, swimwear, outerwear, nightwear, maternity, flats, sandals, heels, boots, sneakers

Style: Casual

Quality: Low

Price: $

Sizes: 2XS-4XL, 0-18 (US), 2-20 (UK), 32-48 (EU), 4-22 (AU), plus size

Fabrics: Cotton, linen, hemp, ramie, jute, lyocell, modal, viscose, acetate, polyester, nylon, spandex, polyethylene, polypropylene, acrylic, neoprene, polyurethane, rubber, leather, wool, silk, down

100% Organic: No

100% Vegan: No

Ethical & Fair: Yes

Recycling: Yes

Producing country: Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam

Certifications: GOTS, OCS, GRS, RDS, RWS, FSC, BCI, Fair Trade, Oeko-Tex, Bluesign, SMETA, BSCI, ISO 14000

Sustainability Practices

Target is committed to strengthening its corporate governance, environmental footprint, and social impact. It focuses on elevating sustainable brands and eliminating waste to ensure a better future for generations to come.

Target takes wide-ranging measures and makes sustainability efforts to help address climate and restore natural systems. It drives opportunity and equity and creates change that is good for all.

Target works to bring solutions that better serve communities and the environment. It takes a holistic view of sustainability and drives a positive impact for both people and the planet.

Target only uses a relatively small proportion of organic materials such as organic cotton and hemp or recycled materials such as recycled polyester and regenerated nylon.

Target dedicates very few of its collections to sustainable fashion. It carries some sustainable clothing pieces and plans to do more for its clothes, suppliers, communities, and impact on the environment.

Most of the fabrics used by Target are either natural without relevant certifications, such as conventional cotton or linen, or synthetic petroleum-based fibers such as polyester, nylon, acrylic, and more.

Target also uses a small amount of semi-synthetic fibers or regenerated cellulosic fabrics such as Tencel lyocell, modal, acetate, and viscose.

Tencel is an eco-friendly fiber made with wood pulp from certified sustainable forests. But only a tiny proportion of the materials used by Target are environmentally friendly and sustainable.

Target publishes a list of all its manufacturers on its corporate website, Target.com. It aspires to lead positive social impact throughout its supply chain and work with vendors and factories to improve their standards over time.

The 2021 Fashion Transparency Index gave Target a score of 42% based on how much the group discloses about its social and environmental policies, practices, and impacts.

Target manufactures its clothes in China and many other East Asian countries, where human rights and labor law violations still happen every day.

The retailer sources products from suppliers with labor certification standard that ensures good working conditions, decent living wages, health, safety, and other human rights for workers in its supply chain.

Target has a Code of Conduct that applies to all its suppliers and subcontractors to understand the risks facing workers and make positive changes throughout its supply chain.

Target assesses compliance with its Code of Conduct by auditing all facilities that manufacture its products. It maintains the right to conduct unannounced audits of any disclosed locations.

Target doesn't use exotic animal skin, hair, fur, or angora. But it uses leather, wool, silk, and down feathers to manufacture many of its clothing pieces.

These animal-derived materials are cruel and unethical. They also harm the environment by producing greenhouse gases and waste. More sustainable alternatives exist.

Sustainability Goals

Target has committed to reducing its environmental impact across the entire supply chain. It plans to achieve a 30% absolute reduction in supply chain emissions (scope 3) by 2030, covering retail purchased goods and services from a 2017 base year.

Target also aims to use 100% electricity from renewable sources by 2030. It has committed to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across our enterprise (scopes 1, 2, and 3) by 2040.

Target intends for leading raw materials to be 100% recycled, regenerative, or sustainably sourced by 2030. It plans to design 100% of its owned brand products for a circular future by 2040.

Target also strives to reduce annual total virgin plastic in its owned brand packaging by 20% by 2025 and have 100% of its owned brand plastic packaging be recyclable, compostable, or reusable by 2025.