The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance’s (NEEA) Retail Product Portfolio (RPP) is a midstream retail program that partners with utilities, large retailers and manufacturers around the country to offer midstream sales incentives for a portfolio of consumer products. These incentives help to influence corporate retail buyers’ purchase decisions and encourage the purchasing, stocking and promotion of higher-efficiency products, with the long-term goal of encouraging manufacturers to build efficiency into product plans. In recent years, retailers and manufacturers alike have shown increasing interest in and commitment to sustainability goals. NEEA contracted with Apex Analytics to conduct a literature review of consumer product manufacturer and retailer sustainability goals to inform the team’s engagement strategy and identify synergies between the organizations’ goals and the RPP program.
Between November 2023 and March 2024, Apex Analytics reviewed companies’ sustainability reporting, third-party environmental, social, and governmental (ESG) ratings and assessments, industry whitepapers and other guidance, and popular media sources. The report provides an overview of:
- Market-wide emissions reduction activity
- Factors motivating manufacturers and retailers to develop sustainability goals, including investor influence and regulation
- Organizations’ strategies for achieving sustainability goals
- Strategy recommendations to achieve RPP program goals while supporting manufacturers and retailers in setting and meeting sustainability goals.
