Sustainability FAQs

FAQs

Last updated June 13, 2023

 

The following are answers to several frequently asked questions about sustainability and Sherwin-Williams.

 

GENERAL QUESTIONS

Sustainability is not new to Sherwin-Williams – it is reflected in our core values and embedded in our culture and business practices. We maintain an enterprise-wide and science-based approach to continuous improvement and are committed to building long-term, sustainable shareholder value.

 

The Sherwin-Williams Company culture is built on trust, respect, execution and inclusion – which guide our commitment to take care of our customers, respect our employees and the environment, create value for our customers, employees and shareholders and support the communities in which we live and work. 

Sustainability is rooted in our values and our way of doing business. We embrace an enterprise-wide approach, integrating sustainability into our worldwide business operations and embedding it in our product innovation and product delivery processes. We believe that sustainability makes good business sense.

For Sherwin-Williams sustainability policy documents, visit our Documents & Downloads page here or email sustainability@sherwin.com.

To achieve our ID&E goals, we are following a strategic roadmap represented by building blocks designed to shape our approach and set the foundation for sustainable growth across the Company. While we are advancing each focus area simultaneously, each block builds on another. The entire structure is strengthened by the commitment of leadership. The building blocks of our ID&E strategy include:

  • Educate and communicate to drive success – Building awareness of inclusive leadership behaviors to leverage the unique contributions of each employee to positively impact our people and business results
  • Fill the pipeline with the best talent – Attracting the best talent pool that reflects the diversity of the communities in which we serve and do business
  • Develop and engage talent by investing in our people – Investing in our people by providing networking and learning opportunities to drive retention, progression and engagement
  • Progress talent by embedding equity into talent planning – Embedding equity talent practices, processes, tools and resources at all levels

The Office of Inclusion, Diversity and Equity partners with our groups, divisions and functions to establish goals and initiatives through division-specific action plans that support and reinforce our company-wide efforts.

Company-wide, Sherwin-Williams does not conduct or outsource testing on animals unless it is specifically required by a regulation or government authority. There are rare instances where animal testing may be required as part of a government mandated registration process – for example, new chemical, biocide and food packaging product registrations.

A circular economy is based on the principles of designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems.


Our ESG strategies and initiatives are monitored at various levels within the Company. Our ESG Council consists of subject matter experts from business and corporate functions and representatives of cross-functional workgroups focused on topics across our ESG framework, including climate and footprint, occupational health and safety, engagement and inclusion, product stewardship, and ESG reporting. The ESG Council oversees the development, implementation and monitoring of the Company’s key ESG metrics, targets, goals, strategies, policies and practices, as well as the assessing and addressing of trends, risks and opportunities with respect to ESG topics most significant to the Company and its stakeholders. Members of the ESG Council provide periodic updates to the ESG Steering Committee.

 

Our ESG Steering Committee supports alignment across the organization in overseeing the work of the ESG Council. The ESG Steering Committee is composed of members of senior management and other senior leaders across the organization, including those within the areas of global operations, legal, finance, human resources, investor relations and corporate communications, global supply chain, sustainability, environmental, health and safety, and our reportable business segments. Members of the ESG Steering Committee provide periodic updates to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), our Board of Directors and our board committees.

ESG leadership is also part of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Morikis’ annual performance appraisal and includes the development, integration, and execution of our ESG strategy, as well as progress on ESG initiatives, as part of the Company’s overall business strategy. In addition, the Presidents of each of our three global operating segments are responsible for working in conjunction with our VP of Sustainability to advance the Company’s ESG strategies, goals, targets and initiatives.


At the Board level, our Board of Directors has responsibility for the oversight of risk management. Our Board Committees assist the Board with this oversight responsibility by reviewing specific risk areas, including certain ESG risks, and making regular reports to the Board.

  • Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee – key environmental (including the impacts of climate change), product stewardship, health and safety, sustainability and corporate social responsibility policies and strategies, and corporate governance guidelines and practices.
  • Compensation and Management Development Committee – key policies and strategies regarding the attraction, retention and development of talent, including inclusion, diversity and equity initiatives, and compensation policies and practices.
  • Audit Committee – enterprise risk management process and exposure to financial risks, compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, and risk exposures relating to cybersecurity and efforts to monitor and mitigate such exposures.

We expect to continue to have strong oversight of key ESG policies and strategies at the board level and deep commitment throughout our executive leadership team.

Coatings are often designed to help protect other products and substrates which allow for a longer functional life, but in many cases coatings also facilitate the recycling and/or reuse of the coated product system. For example, our coatings allow aluminum and steel cans – two of the most readily recycled materials – to be widely used in the marketplace by not only protecting the beverage itself but preventing the aluminum from degrading to the point where it may no longer be able to be recycled.

In addition, Sherwin-Williams seeks opportunities to incorporate recycled materials into its supply chain.  Along with products such as Powdura®-ECO (which contain post-consumer recycled content), Sherwin-Williams reuses washwater and other process chemicals whenever feasible.

Because sustainability is such a broad topic, there are a wide variety of possibilities.  If you have ideas, questions or comments regarding sustainability, please contact the Global Sustainability group at sustainability@sherwin.com.

AREAS OF IMPACT & GOALS

We have the commitment, strategy, goals and programs in place to drive progress in our top tier focus areas of: Climate and Footprint (within our Environmental Stewardship pillar); Product Stewardship and Life Cycle Assessment (within our Product Blueprint pillar); and Occupational Health and Safety and Talent Acquisition and Employee Engagement (within our Social Imprint pillar). 

Our meaningful goals address global issues of critical importance, including doing our part to address climate change by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, increasing energy efficiency and use of renewable energy, minimizing our waste and accelerating development of “sustainably advantaged products.” We are also building additional momentum by enhancing our culture of inclusion, diversity and equity; continuously improving our occupational health and safety metrics; and strengthening our engagement with communities where we operate around the world.

  • 2030 Environmental Footprint Reduction Goals
    • Reduce absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 30%
    • Increase energy from renewable sources to 50% of total electricity usage
    • Increase operational energy efficiency by 20%
    • Reduce waste disposal intensity by 25%
  • Product Blueprint Philosophy and 2022 Highlights
    • Established the Sustainability by Design Stage-Gate Process as a standard part of the product innovation and development processes
    • Enhanced the supplier engagement component of our Product Blueprint strategy
    • Refined our definition of “sustainably advantaged products” to be clearer and more verifiable – with the Sherwin-Williams definition as “products that achieve a level of third-party green chemistry, ecolabel or similar recognition”
    • Enhanced our culture of internal engagement to further embed sustainability into the business and into our products
  • Social Imprint Goals and Aspirations
    • Reduce recordable case rate to 0.8 by 2025
    • Reduce ergonomic injuries by implementing two ergonomic interventions per year in each manufacturing site
    • Increase women in management roles to 30% by 2025
    • Increase underrepresented racial/ethnic groups in U.S. management roles to 30% by 2025
    • Achieve and improve upon a favorable score on the Sherwin-Williams Inclusion Index (based on results of our global employee engagement survey)
    • Foster economic inclusion for underrepresented suppliers

Our climate strategy reflects a science-based approach influenced by the Paris Agreement and its goal to limit global warming to well below 2.0 degrees Celsius. We track and measure our absolute GHG emissions, rather than our emissions intensity, in recognition of the need to reduce the physical amount of GHGs emitted into the atmosphere. Our 2022 Sustainability Report includes disclosures that align with the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework. View our TCFD disclosures here.

We have adopted an approach to better reflect and align with certain global efforts, including setting new GHG emissions reduction targets. Our goal is to reduce our absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030.

Our approach to occupational health and safety includes the following three focus areas: Process Safety, Safety & Risk and Occupational Health. As we continually strive to achieve zero recordable injuries, we have set goals we are targeting to accomplish by 2025:

  • Safety & Risk – Achieve a recordable case rate (RCR) of 0.8
  • Occupational Health – Reduce the number of ergonomic injuries by implementing two interventions per year in each manufacturing site

EHS Goals by 2030:

  • Reduce absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 30%
  • Increase electricity from renewable sources to 50% of total electricity usage
  • Increase operational energy efficiency by 20%
  • Reduce waste disposal intensity by 25%

We have set the following goals to ensure we are making good on our commitment to fostering a culture of belonging where individual differences are celebrated:

  • Attract underrepresented groups into talent pipeline;
  • Ensure underrepresented groups have opportunities to take on and succeed in leadership roles;
  • Drive employee engagement; and
  • Foster economic inclusion for underrepresented suppliers

PRODUCT SUSTAINABILITY


In the spirit of continuous improvement, the Sustainability by Design program will enable us to evolve our products and processes to deliver and grow our sustainably advantaged product offering. We recently refined our definition of "sustainably advantaged products" to be clearer and more verifiable – with the Sherwin-Williams definition as "products that achieve a level of third-party green chemistry, ecolabel or similar recognition."

Many of our architectural products fit the criteria for "sustainably advantaged products" because they meet or exceed sustainability-related conditions set by leading third-party organizations, programs, standards and codes such as:

  • American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)
  • Collaborative for High Performance Schools® (CHPS)
  • Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute
  • EU Ecolabel
  • Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®)
  • Green Globes®
  • GREENGUARD Environmental Institute (GEI) and UL GREENGUARD
  • International Green Construction Code®
  • Leadership in Energy and Environmental DesignTM (LEED®)
  • Nordic Swan Ecolabel
  • The Master Painters Institute®
  • USDA BioPreferred® Program
  • WELL Building Standard®

 

For more information on our certifications and regulatory obligations for our architectural products, see thespecification resources on our website at sherwin-williams.com/architects-specifiers-designers/specifications.

PROGRAM PARTICIPATION

We participate in various regional and industry trade associations such as the American Coatings Association (ACA); the European Council of the Paint, Printing Ink and Artists’ Colours Industry (CEPE); the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA); the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM); and groups such as the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). This active involvement demonstrates our commitment to collaborate and share ideas within the industry and other groups about the connection points between public policy and our focus on technical innovation. This engagement also informs the development of our strategies for addressing current and emerging trends, risks and opportunities and complying with applicable laws, regulations and requirements relating to the environment and climate change.

We are communicating our approach to sustainability and incorporating sustainability into our earliest design processes through the following internal programs:

 

  • S-W Cares: Enterprise-Wide EHS Excellence
    • Company’s enterprise-wide initiative to communicate our approach to occupational health and safety and serves as a roadmap for achieving environmental, health and safety excellence across the Company. It provides a leadership governance structure built around a common language that is supported by tools to continuously track and measure our efforts to enable safe workplaces, protect the environment and meet or exceed regulatory requirements. Our S-W Cares initiative is backed by formal systems and programs – like the TLC Stay Safe Out There initiative – to encourage employees to proactively “find, own, fix and report” workplace hazards before they lead to an incident.
    • The principles of S-W Cares include:
      • Safe Employees
      • Healthy Planet
      • Responsible Operations
 
  • Sustainability by Design
    • Our Sustainability by Design program embeds life cycle thinking, which considers impacts throughout our value chain, into the earliest stages of our product innovation and development processes. From initial concept through commercialization, we identify ways to make our products more sustainable and better performing by evaluating health and safety considerations, chemical formulations, resource conservation, circularity and product performance, among other areas. 2022 was focused on program refinements and expanding stakeholder engagement to deliver better sustainability outcomes.
    • Our 2022 highlights included the following:
      • Established the Sustainability by Design Stage-Gate Process as a standard part of the product innovation and development processes
      • Enhanced the supplier engagement component of our Product Blueprint strategy
      • Refined our definition of “sustainably advantaged products” to be clearer and more verifiable – with the Sherwin-Williams definition as “products that achieve a level of third-party green chemistry, ecolabel or similar recognition”
      • Enhanced our culture of internal engagement to further embed sustainability into the business and into our products

SAFETY QUESTIONS

Each year, Sherwin-Williams drivers traverse millions of miles to bring paint and coatings from manufacturing and distribution centers to our stores and, ultimately, to customers.  Within our Global Supply Chain (GSC) division, company leadership is championing driver safety and has encouraged the Driver Safety Committee to highlight issues and provide solutions, with at least one driver representing each distribution center on the committee. Within The Americas Group (TAG), both commercial and non-commercial fleets are reducing preventable accidents. In 2022, our drivers recorded more than 88.6 million miles on the road, which equates to circling the Earth more than 3,500 times. We continue to adopt sophisticated fleet technology and training solutions designed to improve our fleet safety performance. The use of onboard cameras and tools in our fleet helps give drivers better visibility and navigational capabilities while operating our vehicles. These tools also help track and record driver behavior and performance for real-time alerts and feedback. This information can then be used to facilitate coaching opportunities to improve performance. The Driver Safety Committee is encouraged to identify the issues and challenges our drivers experience on the job and provide solutions. At least one driver represents each distribution center on the committee to incorporate driver feedback into fleet planning and strategy sessions.

The S-W Cares program, the TLC Stay Safe Out There campaign, our EHS Management System, fleet safety efforts and increased collaboration between divisions are instrumental in driving continuous improvement in safety performance at Sherwin-Williams.


The safety of our employees and customers isn’t just a priority – it’s a foundational value recognized at the highest levels of our organization and at every facility in which we operate. S-W Cares is our safety culture initiative that serves as a roadmap for achieving health and safety excellence across the Company. We continue to allocate resources, develop policies and institute governance measures in alignment with our S-W Cares program to drive progress toward delivery of our commitments.

Each letter in “cares” defines an expectation for our workforce to sustain and improve our safety performance. To embody S-W Cares, our leaders and teams must:

Champion – Lead by example

Act – Find, own, fix and report issues

Recognize – Reward individual and team efforts

Empower – Allow people the time to support a safe and healthy work environment

Share – Share successes and best practices



Our S-W Cares initiative is backed by formal systems and programs – like the TLC Stay Safe Out There initiative – to encourage employees to proactively “find, own, fix and report” workplace hazards before they lead to an incident.  Each employee is empowered to routinely review their workspace to identify and report potential safety hazards and to continually coach peers on behaviors so that corrective action can be taken as needed. We believe that safety is something that employees commit to every day, which is why we have continued to prioritize messaging and actions that reinforce our culture of safety across the organization. Additionally, every manufacturing site has a safety tactical plan and monthly training requirements that are specific to its operations. We monitor performance at all our facilities, and routinely review this information locally and at the highest levels of our organization to facilitate continuous improvement. We believe that access to safety data is critical to our operations, which is why we continue to invest in solutions that offer us a greater understanding of our performance and help us identify opportunities to improve.

 

In 2023, we are launching our new data management system to further enhance our reporting and oversight capabilities. This program will enhance our ability to find, own, fix and report health and safety issues. Within the software, there will also be dedicated learning and training modules and other easily accessible resources to help drive continued learning while promoting the safety and well-being of our employees.

WASTE MANAGEMENT QUESTIONS

Sherwin-Williams continuously strives to reduce waste in our operations. Our waste reduction efforts focus on two primary levers: 1) reducing the amount of waste that we generate, and 2) increasing our reuse and recycling. Every Sherwin-Williams manufacturing facility has waste reduction goals and associated projects and programs to meet those goals. Continuous improvement processes have been implemented to address quality control, reduce distressed batches and manage raw materials and finished product inventory, thereby eliminating the waste before it is generated.

 

Other waste reduction efforts include: the reuse and recycling of cleaning solvents; reworking paint into new batches; and recycling cardboard, paper, plastic and metal. Materials that become waste are managed in accordance with applicable regulations and corporate guidelines. Another key component of our product stewardship strategy is our participation in the PaintCare® paint recycling program, which we have been involved with since its inception in 2009. The nonprofit program is managed by the American Coatings Association (ACA) to recycle and properly manage post-consumer paint. More than 425 Sherwin-Williams stores currently participate in these paint recycling efforts as of end of 2021, serving as retail drop-off sites for customers and local communities. In 2021, more than 1 million gallons of paint were collected for recycling through PaintCare®.

REPORTING

Our EHS Management System covers all Sherwin-Williams facilities. Each of our three operating segments – Paint Stores Group (PSG), Consumer Brands Group (CBG) and Performance Coatings Group (PCG) – and our Global Supply Chain division within CBG manage EHS through the S-W Cares initiative, but tailor their approach to their specific risk profile.

Within PSG – the creation of a tactical EHS handbook and companion mobile app personalized for their unique operations allowed us to broadly standardize and communicate our expectations on the sales floor in our company-operated stores. We are enhancing safety leadership by adding an EHS leader to each of our five PSG divisions to support and oversee ongoing efforts. The introduction of the mobile app has improved the efficiency of inspections, increased visibility of the results and streamlined EHS data collection.

 

In 2022, we continued to unify our EHS efforts by rolling out our updated EHS Management System (EHSMS) across our Global Supply Chain (GSC) division. We are adding new tools and functionality to our EHSMS throughout 2023 and beyond to give our people the resources they need to succeed.

The EHSMS is divided into the essential components of Culture, Planning, Implementation and Operations, Verifications and Process Accountability, and Action Management and Continuous Improvement to help facilitate improvement within these select areas. The EHSMS contains a suite of processes and tools, including site plan templates, checklists and worksheets – which are adaptable for all parts of the organization. All manufacturing and distribution sites and technical centers must conform to our EHSMS, which is in strong alignment with third-party certifications, such as the ISO 14001 voluntary standard for environmental management and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP), and other best practices.

Along with the publication of our annual Sustainability Report, we have historically reported to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards and more recently have increased and enhanced our reporting to also align with the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) framework. In 2022, we also publish disclosures that align with the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework. View our TCFD disclosures here.

Historically, we have published an annual Sustainability Report (formerly Corporate Responsibility Report). For the past five years, we have also published our shorter Investor ESG Summary (formerly Investor Download) summarizing ESG information, data and metrics for the investor community. In 2022, we published our first disclosures that align with the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework. View our TCFD disclosures here.

 

To view the website for the most current information regarding our sustainability efforts and progress, visit https://corporate.sherwin-williams.com/sustainability.html.