America’s second largest retailer after Wal-Mart – sells a large number of products containing PVC such as shower curtains and children’s toys. Yet in 2006, Target lagged behind Wal-Mart not just in sales, but also in advancing safer chemical policies. Recently Wal-Mart and many other major companies including Nike, Microsoft and Johnson & Johnson have committed to begin phasing out PVC from selected products and packaging.

In 2006, As You Sow pulled together 22 different investor groups and led a dialogue among shareholders, company senior management, and NGO experts. Shareholders raised health concerns regarding PVC and asked for disclosure of PVC in Target products and packaging and for the company to develop plans to phase out PVC use. In response, Target conducted an inventory of its products and found PVC to be prevalent. The PVC issue was repeatedly raised by shareholders at Target’s 2007 annual meeting leading Target president Gregg Steinhafel to state “that the company will take a back seat to no one as it relates to being a socially responsible company.”

In the fall of 2007, after one year of pressure from the AYS-led shareholder coalition combined with consumer activist pressure, Target agreed to take significant steps to eliminate PVC in its Target-brand name products. This included:

Target also asked its vendors to reduce the amount of PVC product packaging and to use easily recyclable materials.