Two promotional products companies have been dubbed “Climate Leaders” by USA Today.

Top 40 distributor Cintas (asi/162167) and supplier HanesBrands (asi/59528) were on a list of 400 U.S.-based companies that have seen the greatest reductions in core emissions intensities between 2019 and 2021. 

Todd Schneider, president and CEO of Cintas, said the recognition shows how “rallying around our sustainability vision” and a “history of identifying opportunities and solutions through our culture of positive discontent” has helped the company lower its environmental impact.

“We believe innovation and advances in technology will continue to be important drivers in our sustainability initiatives, especially as we identify opportunities to pursue sustainable programs and processes throughout our business,” he added.

To determine its first-ever Climate Leader list, USA Today teamed up with Statista, a global provider of market and consumer data. They identified the U.S.-headquartered companies with more than $50 million in annual revenue in 2021 that met the inclusion criteria and achieved the greatest reductions in core emissions intensities – the measurement of Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse-gas emissions as a factor of revenue – between 2019 and 2021.

Statista began with a list of more than 2,000 companies. Of those, 700 reported emissions data, making a verifiable ranking possible.

“Sustainability is only one aspect to use when evaluating companies, but we all know it’s becoming more and more important,” said Statista Analyst Lisa Abels. “This list gives perspective on what companies have accomplished in the last years and are preparing for the future.” 

According to the USA Today report, Cintas reduced its core emissions by 9.7% year over year and its core greenhouse gas reduction was 18.5%. HanesBrands reduced its core emissions year over year by 5.5% and its core greenhouse gas reduction was 10.8%. USA Today said it adjusted emissions growth by revenue, to keep companies on a level playing field. More data on each company, and the full Climate Leader list, is available on USA Today’s website.

USA Today says the ranking “gives a sense of a company’s trajectory along an increasingly important metric of success.”

Cintas says enterprise-wide initiatives like an LED lighting conversion project, rollout of electric-fleet vehicles and optimization of fleet routing are among the factors helping it decrease emissions.

“We’ve made significant progress during the last few years in identifying more efficient ways to operate, and we’ll continue to evaluate every input and output as we focus on reducing our environmental impact, including our direct and indirect emissions,” said Christy Nageleisen, vice president of environmental, social and governance (ESG) at Cintas.

HanesBrands has noted the progress it’s made in 2021 and 2022 toward its sustainability goals, pointing to a 30% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions and the fact that nearly 50% of the electricity it uses comes from renewable sources.

“HanesBrands continues to build on our leadership position in sustainability by improving the lives of people, protecting the planet and creating more sustainable products,” said CEO Steve Bratspies.

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