Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
Starting Line
Our Company proudly exists to serve the needs of our customers, the motoring public.
“Since our previous ESG Report (formerly known as Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR Report), we have doubled down on our overall ESG commitments and investments and collaborated with external experts to conduct our inaugural materiality assessment. In this Report, you will clearly see that we opened our doors to objectively examine our company’s environmental programs, diversity initiatives, workplace practices, vendor programs, and governance measures.
As we push for greater outcomes and more positive change, focusing on our AutoZoners remains and will forever be essential to every AutoZone strategy. One of those non-negotiable areas of importance is our collective ability to live up to the AutoZone Value of “An AutoZoner Always…Embraces Diversity.” This means continuously building a strong, diverse team of leaders from our Board of Directors to AutoZoners on the frontlines who are passionate about Living our Pledge and Values each and every day.
Although we are excited about our meaningful progress, measurable goals and accelerated growth, especially as it relates to our environmental journey, we can never become complacent with our present-day success.”
- Bill Rhodes, Chairman, President and CEO, Customer Satisfaction
Environmental Responsibility
Products
34%
450+
More than 450 audits conducted of vendors' factories on environmental, social, quality and security criteria
1,073
Pre-Shipment Examinations conducted, ensuring our products perform up to our quality, safety and packaging standards
Saving Energy And Reducing Emissions
This 15% decrease in emissions is equivalent to:
Nearly
4 BILLION
Preventing nearly
37 MILLION
Planting nearly
41,000 ACRES
More than
170,000 METRIC TONSRecycling
13.4 MILLION
250,000 TONS
of batteries
1,400 TONS
of plastic
1,061,000
wood pallets
31,000 TONS
of cardboard
19,000 TONS
of steel
50,000 TONS
of used and worn-out auto parts sent to be recycled
AutoZone Cares About People
An AutoZoner Always... Embraces Diversity
“AutoZone is a diverse Company, full of caring, committed AutoZoners, who are passionate, service-focused, problem-solvers. When you are an AutoZoner, you are part of something special – a culture unlike any other that pledges to Put Customers First in all we do. As AutoZoners, our Values define and guide us. It is our commitment to those Values, along with the diversity of skills, knowledge, abilities and backgrounds possessed by our more than 105,000 AutoZoners that make AutoZone a winning team.”
- Bill Rhodes, Chairman, President and CEO, Customer Satisfaction
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)
Since 2016, ethnic diversity at our leadership levels (from Director to our Board) has improved at each level by as much as 20%:
AutoZone has laid a foundation of support that includes reliable and accessible reporting, a cross-functional Diversity Council, a DEI Steering Committee and the following business resource groups (BRGs): AZ BE BOLD, Black Excellence Building Opportunities for Leadership Development; AZ ¡HOLA!, Hispanic Organization for Leadership at AutoZone; AZ NextGen, AutoZone’s Next Generation of Leaders; AZ PRIDE+, People Recognizing Individuality, Diversity and Equity; AZ VALOR, Veterans and Active Leadership Organization for Recruitment and Retention; and AZ WIN, AutoZone’s Women’s Initiative.
LENDING A HELPING HAND
AutoZoners are always helping fellow AutoZoners. In our stores, DCs and SSCs, this can mean supporting a team member on a project or lending another set of hands to get a customer on their way. Through the AutoZoner Assistance Fund (AAF), AutoZoners help other AutoZoners facing personal challenges by donating their own money. AAF is a primarily AutoZoner-funded non-profit organization that helps cover the cost of the unexpected – personal tragedies, natural disasters or sudden loss. The company provides additional support, especially during times of increased hardship, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization is independently managed by a cross-functional board of AutoZoners who volunteer their time.
Since its founding in 2000, AAF has provided more than $9.3 million in financial assistance to AutoZoners. In FY2021, AAF raised $1.5 million, and with these funds, AAF was able to support over 1,300 AutoZoners and their families.
Helping end the opioid crisis
In FY2020, we launched an initiative in partnership with our group health plan providers to help reduce opioid usage among AutoZoners. Many of the communities we serve, and where we live and work, have been affected by the opioid crisis, including AutoZoners.
We have been actively working with our pharmacy benefit providers to ensure there are safeguards in place to reduce the risk of inappropriate opioid use or abuse. This includes prior authorization criteria to confirm the medication is needed for acute or chronic pain; quantity and refill limits; and monitoring for potential fraud, waste and abuse. These initiatives align with the latest national guidelines. Since 2019, opioid prescription rates among AutoZoners covered by our health insurance plan have decreased by nearly 25%.
Community Engagement
$2.2M
$5M
86%
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK
Our primary corporate governance objective is to maximize long-term business success and increase shareholder value, while adhering to the laws of the jurisdictions where we operate and conducting our business with the highest ethical standards.
90% of our Board members serve as Independent Directors.
7 of 16 Executive Committee members are ethnically or gender diverse.
We have a strong governance framework that connects individuals and teams across our Company and includes various levels of oversight through the organization: Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer, Executive Committee, Executive Sponsor and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Committee.
Reporting Frameworks
We have applied select General Reporting Initiative (“GRI”) Sustainability Reporting Standards to identify and cross reference meaningful information for our stakeholders.
We reference the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (“SASB”) index and select SASB indicators for the Multiline and Specialty Retailers and Distributors industry.
We recognize the importance of the United Nations’ Sustainability Development Goals (“SDGs”) and proudly report in our CSR -2021 how we’re contributing thus far.
We disclosed to CDP our climate performance data which is aligned with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures ("TCFD")
See Environmental, Social, and Governance Report 2021 for more details