Republic Services, Inc. has been named to Barron’s 100 Most Sustainable Companies list for the third time, highlighting the Company’s efforts to benefit key stakeholders, including the environment, employees, customers, communities and shareholders. The recognition comes after a year of unprecedented challenges, in which Republic Services launched a multimillion initiative to support its essential workers and small businesses across the country.
“Republic Services is constantly striving to deliver bold sustainability programs and durable practices that make a meaningful positive impact on the environment, our employees and society while enhancing our business,” said Donald W. Slager, chief executive officer. “Our employees are proud to provide an essential service, and their heroic efforts throughout 2020 kept our communities safe while furthering our efforts to protect our planet for future generations.”
Barron’s partnered with Calvert Research & Management to analyze 1,000 of the largest publicly held U.S. companies. Calvert evaluated 230 ESG indicators, which were organized into 28 topics to develop the list of 100 top companies. The companies ranked on Barron’s 2021 list received high scores for their efforts to mitigate their impact on the environment and bolster employee welfare, community health and customer satisfaction.
Republic Services launched its “Committed to Serve” initiative in April 2020 to support employees, customers and local communities through the pandemic. As part of the initiative, the Company purchased regular meals from independently owned restaurants for employees and their families, provided gift cards to spend in the local economy and contributed an additional $3 million in funding for small business revitalization projects.
The Company’s Blue Planet® sustainability platform is dedicated to improving the environment through a focus on people and communities, as well as safety, operations and materials management. Based on these five elements, Republic Services has developed an ambitious set of 2030 sustainability goals that address critical global macrotrends and include the industry’s first greenhouse gas emissions reduction target approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).