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Energy and Emissions


Sustainable Development Goal 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy

Electricity and fuels used to operate our stores generate the majority of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that we can control directly. Our global approach to reducing our impact and increasing our efficiency includes a balanced and opportunistic portfolio of emissions reduction activities highlighting energy efficiency and alternative energy sources. In 2018, we reduced our global corporate GHG emissions by over 174,000 metric tons. This was more than double our emissions reduction in 2017 and reflects our commitment to lowering electricity consumption and sourcing low-carbon energy. We are also pleased to report that we saved an estimated $36 million in energy expenses between 2011 and 2018 as a result of our programs. As we have said for several years, our environmental sustainability efforts truly benefit both our business and the environment!

Conserving Energy

  • Retrofitting lighting
  • Implementing and monitoring energy management / building automation systems
  • Conducting preventative maintenance on heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems
  • Providing stores with energy awareness training materials
TJX video demonstrating how sourcing renewable energy is an important part of TJX's Environmental Sustainability strategy.

Electricity is Our Largest Source of GHG Emissions1

Stores Account for 80% of Our Carbon Footprint1

GHG Emissions Sources: 86% Electricity, 10% Onsite Fuels, 3% Transport Fuels, 1% Refrigerants. Carbon Footprint: 80% Stores, 14% Distribution Centers, 3% Offices, 3% Vehicles

We have regional Energy Management teams across our global operations that are responsible for managing our energy consumption and costs, analyzing and improving current operational performance, and testing, prioritizing, and implementing energy efficiency technologies and products. To facilitate the sharing of best practices across our global regions, our Energy Management teams share information throughout the year and collaborate on regional approaches. These teams support the energy data collection efforts for over 4,300 stores as part of our global, corporate GHG inventory. They also help align reduction strategies with our global, corporate GHG emissions reduction target of a 30% reduction of GHG emissions per million dollars of revenue by 2020 against a 2010 baseline year.

Over the past five years, our Energy Management teams have implemented emissions reduction projects that have helped reduce our global carbon footprint by almost 80,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e). In 2018, our energy-saving initiatives reduced our CO2e emissions by more than 23,900 metric tons, an increase of over 23% from 2017.


2018 Global Results

Combined energy efficiency initiatives in the United States, Canada, and Europe reduced our carbon footprint by approximately 23,900 metric tons of CO2E

That's the annual GHG emissions given off by about 5,100 cars

or the annual GHG emissions stored by about 28,100 acres of trees


Combined energy efficiency initiatives in the United States, Canada, and Europe reduced our carbon footprint by approximately 23,900 metric tons of CO2E

That's the annual GHG emissions given off by about 5,100 cars

or the annual GHG emissions stored by about 28,100 acres of trees


  • Avoiding and Offsetting Emissions

    Along with energy-efficiency initiatives, we leverage low-carbon energy sources as well as carbon offsets2 in our efforts to reduce emissions from our global corporate GHG inventory. Low-carbon energy is an increasingly important part of our approach to reducing GHG emissions from electricity consumption. We also use offsets from verified carbon reduction projects to reduce emissions from other emissions sources. For example, we use offsets to reduce emissions generated from our Canadian Associates’ business travel.

    Renewable and Low Carbon Energy

    As a global company, we operate in many different energy and renewables markets. Opportunities for using renewable energy vary greatly from country to country and even within regions. Additionally, for TJX, onsite, renewable electricity-generation opportunities are limited as we typically do not build or own our stores. We have regional strategies to support our efforts, and subject matter experts review opportunities, deal structures, and procurement strategies that are currently available in their local marketplaces. They continue to evaluate alternative energy solutions and purchasing opportunities for our facilities, taking into account the economic and operational feasibility of projects. Some examples of our current sourcing strategies include:

    • Wholesale power purchase agreements
    • On-site power purchase agreements
    • Electricity supply contracts
    • Renewable energy credits

    In 2018, we purchased nearly 320 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy in total, sourced from a variety of technologies. This is nearly 65% more than the amount of renewable energy sourced in the previous year and reflects our Company’s increasing commitment to renewable energy overall. In the U.S. and Canada, our approach to renewable energy includes installing solar panels on select buildings, contracting with utilities for renewables, and purchasing renewable energy credits from national, new-renewable facilities. Our renewable energy strategies and low-carbon energy purchases in 2018 enabled us to reduce our Scope 2 market-based GHG inventory by more than 150,000 metric tons of CO2e, more than double the emissions reduction impacts from the previous year.

    TJX leases the vast majority of its stores, which limits our ability to generate renewable electricity on a broader scale. However, we have found opportunities in our distribution centers, which we own, and where market conditions and landlord partnerships enable projects. In the U.S., specific efforts include solar panels installed on the roofs of select stores in New Jersey, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, and California and distribution centers in Arizona, Connecticut, and Nevada. We have also designed the roofs on our new distribution centers to accommodate solar panels and have evaluated the potential for future use of solar panel installations at distribution centers and home offices. We believe these efforts position us well to expand our solar projects where it makes sense for the business in the future. In 2017, we were proud to go live with two new solar panel installations on our Arizona distribution centers, including the largest solar panel installation in TJX history.

    • In Phoenix: Nearly 13,000 solar panels power about 30% of the distribution center’s electricity consumption, netting a carbon savings that is roughly the equivalent of taking more than 285 cars off the road each year. By powering our distribution center, in part, by the sun, we saved nearly $300,000 in 2018.
    • In Tucson: Nearly 4,500 solar panels power about 20% of the distribution center’s electricity consumption, equivalent to the amount of carbon absorbed by about 360 acres of trees and providing a cost savings of about $250,000 in 2018.

    In Canada, in 2018, we purchased renewable energy credits that reduced our electricity-related emissions by 85%. In Europe, our processing centers in Bergheim, Germany and Wroclaw, Poland utilize onsite energy generated through solar and geothermal technologies. In Ireland, we buy 100% renewable energy.

    Carbon Offsets

    For the 2018 GHG inventory, TJX Canada purchased carbon offsets to cover its remaining operational emissions, including Scope 1 and Scope 3 emissions3 (from business travel and waste), as well as Scope 2 emissions not covered by renewable energy purchases. For our offset purchase, we chose a VCS-certified4 project known as the Darkwoods Forest Carbon Project, located in southeastern British Columbia. The project provides multiple conservation benefits, including protecting over 250,000 acres of forest and ensuring that natural habitats for wildlife are not disrupted.

  • U.S. Highlights

    In the U.S., members of our Energy Management team work with our Store Design teams, Distribution Center teams, vendors, and many others to review opportunities to increase our energy efficiency for new and existing facilities. For our large and diverse real estate portfolio nationwide, we analyze store energy data, surveys, and feedback to identify energy consumption outliers and then work to deploy the appropriate solutions to improve the operations of our buildings, increase people’s comfort, and save energy. Our U.S. Energy Management team works with the goal of reducing energy and emissions in these key ways:

    • Identifying new applications of light-emitting diode (LED) technologies and installing LED light fixtures in most areas of our new stores – from the backroom to the fitting rooms to the jewelry cases;
    • Retrofitting existing lighting and HVAC systems in stores and distribution centers; and
    • Leading the Save-a-Watt program, which identifies stores that are operating outside of our standards for efficiency and works with them to optimize lighting, electrical, and mechanical systems.

    Additionally, our Energy Management team works with our Environmental Sustainability team to monitor our GHG emissions inventory and progress against our reduction target and is a key partner in developing the strategies and plans for our next generation goals. In 2018, our lighting and HVAC efficiency initiatives, along with our renewable and low-carbon energy purchases, reduced our GHG emissions by over 178,500 metric tons of CO2e.

  • Canada Highlights

    In Canada, we take a collaborative approach to our energy portfolio, with stakeholders from Store Design and Construction, Maintenance, Finance, and Environmental Sustainability working together to decrease energy consumption and carbon emissions. The team focuses on:

    • Identifying opportunities to conserve energy in our stores (primarily through energy efficient lighting upgrades);
    • Evaluating technologies such as battery energy storage, demand-control ventilation for HVAC, and LED lighting;
    • Leveraging incentives provided by provincial utility programs to reduce project costs; and,
    • Exploring renewable energy purchasing opportunities.

    In 2018, TJX Canada implemented technologies, like LED lighting and new energy control panels in over 100 stores, saving nearly 2,100 metric tons of CO2e as a result.

    We are proud to report that Canada is carbon neutral for its reported Scope 1, 2, and 3 operations for 2018. The regional team purchased renewable energy credits as well as carbon offsets to support this strategy. Renewable energy credits made from Canadian wind farms served to reduce Canada’s total market-based emissions by 50%. The remaining 50% are offset using carbon offsets sourced from the Nature Conservancy of Canada and its Darkwoods Forest Carbon Project, as noted above.

    Canada avoided or offset over 45,800 metric tons of CO2e calculated for its 2018 GHG inventory. This has the estimated environmental impact of taking over 9,700 cars off the road for a year or the estimated carbon stored by over 53,000 acres of trees.

  • Europe Highlights

    In Europe, our Energy and Environment Committee is responsible for setting regional environmental sustainability goals, approving implementation strategies, reviewing program progress, and assessing the viability of future opportunities. It is comprised of senior individuals from across the business, including Corporate Responsibility, Store Operations, Property, Distribution, Facilities, Finance, Store Design, and Procurement as well as external expert consultants. At the operations level, we also have an Environmental and Energy Management Committee, comprised of internal Associates and an external energy management specialist, which has developed a comprehensive, multi-year plan with the goal of improving our energy performance.

    TJX Europe initiatives include:

    • Continuing to roll out our LED lighting program in new and existing U.K. stores and processing centers;
    • Managing building monitoring systems with the goal of further reducing our energy consumption, measuring our performance against initiatives, and upgrading some systems to allow for easier access to high-quality information, which permits us to more swiftly resolve maintenance or other issues; and,
    • Implementing lighting and heating / cooling policies to manage electricity use for stores in the U.K. and mainland Europe.

    In 2018, the European team completed LED lighting retrofits and remodel projects that resulted in lowered energy consumption overall across our real estate portfolio. We are proud to report that these efforts resulted in about a 12% reduction in our energy intensity (kilowatt hours per square foot) and helped to reduce our GHG emissions by about 8,600 metric tons of CO2e. This initiative is a key component in TJX Europe’s strategy to meet its emissions reduction goal of 15% metric tons of CO2e per million British pounds by 2020 against a 2017 baseline. We are pleased to report that we are currently on track to beat that goal.

1Includes 2018 Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (indirect) GHG emissions.
2Carbon offsets are certificates that can be traded. The certificate represents a reduction in GHG emissions created by a project, like, for example, planting acres of trees. Companies can purchase these certificates to “offset” an increase in GHG emissions in their operations.
3As defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, Scope 1 emissions are direct GHG emissions that occur from sources that are owned or controlled by the company. Scope 2 emissions are from the generation of purchased energy consumed by the company. Scope 3 emissions are a consequence of the activities of the company, but occur from sources not owned or controlled by the company.
4Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) is the world’s most widely used, voluntary program for the certification of GHG emission reduction projects.