Best Buy : Releases Latest Sustainability Report; Exceeds Carbon Goal

Suzanne HilkerStaff Writer

Today Best Buy released its fiscal year 2017 Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Report. What's the big news? We set out to reduce our carbon emissions 45 percent by 2020 (over a 2009 baseline) and, at the end of 2016, we reached nearly 47 percent.

We are committed to addressing climate change. But that's not all.

At Best Buy, we are focusing our efforts to positively impact the world in three areas: our communities, our environment and our people. It's the work we call Best Buy for Good.

'Sustainability continues to be a priority for Best Buy,' said Laura Bishop, chief corporate responsibility & sustainability officer at Best Buy. 'It's not only the right thing to do, but it makes good business sense. Every employee contributes to our efforts - from volunteering at our Teen Tech Centers to helping customers choose products that will make their homes more sustainable.'

Here are some FY17 highlights:

We serve our communities by bridging the opportunity gap.

• We operated 11 Teen Tech Centers, teaching underserved teens tech skills critical to future jobs.
• We hosted Geek Squad Academy events in 57 cities, inspiring teens through technology.
• Our employees volunteered more than 100,000 hours for nonprofits across the country.

We are a good steward of our environment, reducing impacts in our operations and through the products we sell.

• We reduced our carbon emissions by nearly 47 percent over a 2009 baseline, reaching our goal four years early.
• We extended the life of 5 million devices through our repair service and responsibly recycled 175 million pounds of electronics and appliances.
• We helped our customers save $45 million on their utility bills through ENERGY STAR® products.

We treat our people with respect - whether they are our employees, customers or partners.

• Our employees completed 10 million training courses, demonstrating our commitment to a highly trained workforce.
• We received a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index.
• Nearly 90 perc­ent of the smelters reported by our private label factories have been validated as conflict-free via an independent, third-party audit, or they have committed to go through an audit.

To read more about our wins and challenges from FY17, check out our full report. For more Best Buy for Good stories, follow us on Twitter @BestBuyCSR.