Search

This project was conducted by six University of Michigan’s School of Environment and Sustainability graduate students (referred to as the research team) to support Meijer’s core values of sustainability by developing a Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) accounting framework and conducting a baseline emissions inventory for the fiscal year of 2021. Meijer has made significant progress in Scope 1 and Scope 2 goal setting and reductions. This research document outlines the foundational framework Meijer will use to carry out its Scope 3 GHG emissions inventory and calculates a benchmark inventory to inform goal-setting in the future. As a retailer with business activities including procurement, distribution, manufacturing, and retail operations in six U.S. states, Meijer has a vast and complex value chain. In order to expand its sustainability programs and goals outside of its direct operations and into its value chain, Meijer must first complete a Scope 3 inventory to identify the most pertinent areas of impact and the most carbon intensive categories. This report helps establish that baseline. Scope 3 emissions are defined as “indirect emissions that occur in a company’s value chain.” These are separate from the Scope 1 and 2 emissions that occur as part of a company’s direct operations. Scope 3 is intended to record, measure and manage the emissions occurring in a company’s value chain, between a company’s suppliers, manufacturers, and customers. The categories are intended to be mutually exclusive to avoid double counting emissions across Scope 3 categories or with Scope 1 or 2 GHG accounting. The research team utilized the The Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard as guidance for calculating the relevant and material Scope 3 categories for Meijer. Out of the 15 Scope 3 Categories, 11 were deemed material; the four eliminated categories were excluded based on insignificant materiality to the business. The research team worked with internal Meijer stakeholders to procure data in alignment with the GHG Protocol guidance. Calculation methods were selected given data availability and constraints. A major challenge the research team encountered when mapping the US Environmentally-Extended Input-Output (USEEIO) emission factors, specifically for Category 1, to Meijer’s categories of goods and services, were misaligned categories between the two. To identify the business area in both sales and spend data, Meijer uses UNSPSC ID codes. It is difficult to map these codes to the EPA’s Emission Factors (EFs), which use NAICS codes, as there are not always direct matches. Additionally, the USEEIO methodology is based on an estimate of economic value of the goods and services, so as Meijer’s sales grow in the future, so will Category 1 while using the USEEIO methodology. However, the USEEIO methodology is well suited to illustrate emission “hotspots'' and which categories are the highest carbon emitters within Category 1. Going forward, Meijer could use its supplier’s Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions data to calculate Meijer’s Scope 3 Purchased Goods and Services, eliminating the need for USEEIO methodology. 1 As part of this research report, the team inventoried Meijer’s emissions for the baseline year of 2021. The results are as follows: The total estimated Scope 3 emissions is 19,200,000 Mt CO2e. The three most contributing categories are Purchased Goods (65% of total emissions), Use of Sold Products (24% of total emissions), and Downstream Transportation and Distribution (5% of total emissions) as shown in ES 1. For additional reference, Meijer’s Scope 1 total was 271,770 Mt CO2e and Scope 2 total was 666,417 Mt CO2e (for a combined total of 938,187 Mt CO2e) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021.