Office Depot and Staples Top Ranked U.S. Green Retailers

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October 21, 2010

Office supply retailers Office Depot and Staples duke it out to claim the #1 U.S. Green Retailer spot in Newsweek’s 2010 Green Rankings, which name the top environmentally conscious companies in the U.S. and globally.

Although no retailers made it onto the overall top 10 list, the retailers that did make it onto the U.S. and global lists straddled nearly every channel of retail trade.

On the U.S. list, Office Depot is ranked 18th, while Staples trails slightly at 23rd. Kohl’s is ranked 40th, Walmart 51st and Target 61st, while other U.S retailers in the “retail top 10” in rank order include Gap, Best Buy, Whole Foods Market, eBay and Limited Brands ranked 100.

The U.S 500 is Newsweek’s environmental ranking of the largest publicly traded companies in America, while The Global 100 ranks the biggest publicly traded companies in developed and emerging world markets.

In total, 55 retail companies were named in the U.S. 500 list. Nearly all (8 in 10) of the companies in the top 10 were technology companies, save for Johnson & Johnson and Nike. A similar trend is observed on the global list.

“Because a global ranking includes U.S. companies, some appear on both the U.S. 500 and the Global 100 lists,” Newsweek explained.

In total, only 10 retail companies were named to the global list, with Walmart and Target leading, with a ranking of 39 and 40, respectively, followed by Tesco ranked 44, Lowe’s at 52 and Carrefour at 53. The other five retailers named to the list in rank order include Home Depot, Kroger, Metro Group, CVS and Walgreen.

The Newsweek 2010 Green Rankings were developed in collaboration with MSCI ESG Research, a leader in environmental, social, and governance ratings; Trucost, which specializes in quantitative measurements of environmental performance; and CorporateRegister.com, the world’s largest online directory of social responsibility, sustainability, and environmental reports.

Companies were issued green scores, environmental impact scores, green policy scores and a reputation survey score, based on an opinion survey of corporate social-responsibility professionals, academics, and other environmental experts who subscribe to CorporateRegister.com.

Top 5 U.S. Green Retailers

1. Office Depot     #18
2. Staples               #23
3. Kohl’s                 #40
4. Walmart            #51
5. Target                #61

Top 10 Global Green Retailers

1. Walmart           #39
2. Target               #40
3. Tesco                #44
4. Lowe’s              #52
5. Carrefour         #53
6. Home Depot   #63
7. Kroger              #64
8. Metro Group   #69
9. CVS                   #72
10. Walgreen         #77

  Source: Newsweek 2010 Green Rankings

Click here see the full ranking and more about the study methodology.

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• Office Depot: The Business Smarts of Green

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