Staples Promotional Products (asi/120601), the third-largest distributor in the industry, has released its inaugural corporate social responsibility (CSR) report, noting, among other achievements, that 98.8% of the waste at its promo-dedicated facility was recycled last year.

“This report serves as a blueprint of the purpose-driven journey that we’re on as we care for people and planet,” noted Daron Hines, president of Staples Promotional Products and a member of Counselor’s Power 50, in a LinkedIn post. “‘Building Better Brands, Together’ is our platform for good as we prioritize environmental stewardship and care for our associates, business partners and the communities in which we operate.”

Staples said its CSR report outlines how the company is putting transparency at the heart of brand merchandising, and emphasizes the sustainable procurement platform it launched in December.

“At a time when third-party suppliers account for 90% of total environmental impact, we are proud to be first in the industry to establish an unbiased sustainable procurement platform,” Hines said of the achievement.

As of March 2023, according to the report, nearly half of Staples’ procurement is rated using EcoVadis, a company that helps businesses of all sizes monitor and assess their sustainability performance across their supply chain.

Daron Hines, president of Staples Promotional Products

Through the program, Staples has also been influencing suppliers to assess and improve their supply chain sustainability. “Of those suppliers undergoing EcoVadis assessments for our program, 96% were assessed for the very first time,” Staples noted in the CSR report. “Our dashboard uniquely enables us to leverage objective data to partner with and incentivize other supply chain partners to target and plan year-over-year improvements to their ratings. … By becoming the only distributor to provide supply chain sustainability transparency to clients, we are setting the bar higher for competitors.”

Staples’ own internal operations received a silver EcoVadis rating, based on its performance on the environment, labor and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement. One quarter of the company’s annual decoration volume and most client brand store fulfillment is conducted from Staples’ 500,000-square-foot promo-dedicated facility in Orange City, IA, according to the report. That facility is 100% powered by green energy, diverts 98.8% of all generated waste from landfills and uses water-soluble Rutland inks, which are third party-tested and certified not to contain PVC, latex and other harmful substances. The distributor also noted that it recycles nearly 1 million pounds of corrugate, plastics and paper annually.

The company has reduced its cardboard consumption by 25% and eliminated 90% of all plastic outer shipping containers with its Smart-size packaging program. Staples also works with UPS’ carbon-neutral shipping program, with over 84% of all U.S. shipments being carbon-neutral as of March 2023.

In addition, the report outlined the company’s volunteer and charitable efforts. Employees contributed more than 1,800 volunteer hours to nonprofits in 2022, and Staples and its employees raised nearly $30,000 for the American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure. Associates contributed over 600 hours to local foodbanks, donating food and sorting, bundling and packaging hundreds of meal kits for families over the holiday season. Other nonprofits Staples assisted in 2022 include the Ronald McDonald House, Boys & Girls Club and Salvation Army Adopt-A-Family.

Download the full CSR report here.

Based on estimated 2021 North American promo product revenue of $740.1 million, Staples Promotional Products ranked third on Counselor’s most recent list of the largest distributors in the industry.

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