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Bunnings

OVERALL

Owned
AUS
Rating
Praises, some criticism

Hardware retail

Australia's largest hardware retailer. Bunnings operate 211 Bunnings Warehouse stores and 63 smaller format Bunnings stores across Australia and New Zealand.

Company Ownership

Bunnings Group Ltd    AUS     website   email      
  Wesfarmers Ltd   
   owns 100% of Bunnings Group Ltd   
AUS     website   email      twitter

Retail, energy, insurance, chemicals

Founded in WA in 1914 as a farmers' cooperative, today Wesfarmers operations include department stores; home improvement and office supplies; insurance; chemicals, energy and fertilisers; and industrial and safety products. Acquired Coles Group in 2007 for $20 billion in the biggest takeover in Australian corporate history. Coles was spun-off in November 2018. Wesfarmers kept Officeworks, Kmart and Target, which were part of Coles Group when it was acquired by Wesfarmers.

> About the Ratings

Company Assessment

PRAISE CRITICISM INFORMATION
Bunnings Group Ltd
Environment Australian Packaging Covenant signatory
Signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant, a voluntary agreement to encourage waste minimisation.
Source: Australian Packaging Covenant (2020)
Environment Renewable energy use
Greenpeace's Reenergise campaign ranks Australia's biggest electricity using companies on their commitments and actions regarding renewable energy use. This company has: committed to powering their operations by 100% renewable electricity by 2030; signed at least one power purchase agreement (PPA) to buy power from a wind or solar project; invested in on-site solar.
Source: Greenpeace (2021)
Social Selling bee-killing pesticides
Bunnings are still selling bee-poisoning neonicotinoids, despite evidence that they are a major contributor to the global bee die-off. The European Union have placed a two year ban on these pesticides.
Source: Sum or Us (2014)
Social Workplace injury
Southport District Court (QLD) awarded a Bunnings employee $269,647.70 after she broke here ankle playing tunnel ball during a team building exercise in 2008.
Source: Courier Mail (2012)
Business Ethics Damages awarded against Bunnings
The NSW Court of Appeal held in Bunnings Group Ltd v CHEP Australia Ltd (2011) that the use by Bunnings of CHEP's wooden pallets for the delivery of goods from its distribution centres to its stores constituted an intentional dealing with CHEP's lawful property and resulted in the loss of potential hire revenue for CHEP. Bunnings were liable for damages of $9,375,798 plus interest of $4,100,002.
Source: Mondaq (2012)
Environment FSC Retail Supporter
This company is an FSC Australia Retail Supporter. A Retail Supporter is an organisation that sells FSC Certified products (among others) to consumers. These are companies who not only wish to sell certified products, but promote and support FSC at the same time.
Source: FSC Australia (2017)
Environment Timber procurement policy
Bunnings has been working with Greenpeace and WWF for over 10 years to maintain a robust timber sourcing policy.
Source: WWF (2010)
Animals Fur free
This company has announced that they don't sell animal fur or are phasing in a fur-free policy.
Source: Humane Society (2019)
Business Ethics Sustainability claims
This company has a number of sustainability claims on its website, including reductions in the use of energy and water, sending less waste to landfill, a responsible sourcing policy (especially in relation to timber), and community programs.
Source: company website (2020)
Business Ethics Previous GFTN participant
Bunnings is a founding participant of GFTN-Australia since 2008. The Global Forest and Trade Network seeks to mainstream the principles of responsible forest management and sustainable trade throughout the global forest products industry, by providing technical assistance and fostering linkages between committed companies. Independent forest certification is a key tool in this process.
Source: WWF (2019)
Wesfarmers Ltd
Environment Australian Packaging Covenant signatory
Signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant, a voluntary agreement to encourage waste minimisation.
Source: Australian Packaging Covenant (2020)
Social Human Rights Benchmark
The 2019 Corporate Human Rights Benchmark assessed 200 of the largest publicly traded companies in the world from the Agricultural Products, Apparel, Extractives and ICT Manufacturing sectors on 100 human rights indicators. This company's score was in the 40-50 band range. The overall average score was a disappointing 24%.
Source: CHRB (2019)
Social Efforts to pay a living wage
Oxfam Australia's Company Tracker compares the big clothing brands on their efforts to pay a living wage to the women working in their factories. This company has released the names and addresses of at least 70% of their supplier factories, has taken some action towards paying a living wage within a set timeframe in the supply chain, and has made a commitment to ringfence wages.
Source: Oxfam Australia (2021)
Business Ethics 67/100 S&P Global ESG Score
This company received an S&P Global ESG Score of 67/100 in the Retailing category of the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment, an annual evaluation of companies' sustainability practices (last updated 7 Feb 2021). The rankings are based on an analysis of corporate economic, environmental and social performance, assessing issues such as corporate governance, risk management, environmental reporting, climate strategy, human rights and labour practices.
Source: S&P Global (2021)
Social Forced labour in China
In early 2017, China's Communist Party began a new incarceration campaign, rounding up, detaining and forcibly indoctrinating over 1 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minority ethnic groups in the far-western region. A coalition of more than 180 human rights groups is calling on apparel brands and retailers to stop using forced labour in the Uyghur Region and end their complicity in the Chinese government's human rights abuses. This company is amongst those being targeted by coalition members for not doing enough to identify and disengage from business relationships with Uyghur Region-linked forced labour.
Source: End Uyghur Forced Labour (2021)
Business Ethics 35.3% in Newsweek Green Ranking 2017
This company received a score of 35.3/100 in the Newsweek Green Ranking 2017, which ranks the world's largest publicly traded companies on eight indicators covering energy, greenhouse gases, water, waste, fines and penalties, linking executive pay to sustainability targets, board-level committee oversight of environmental issues and third-party audits. Ranking methodology by Corporate Knights and HIP Investor.
Source: Newsweek (2017)
Social Supply chain sourcing
This 2013 report by The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) investigates the labour and human rights risks in supply chain sourcing. This company is identified on page 21 as a company which sources products from countries with known systemic labour and human rights concerns.
Source: ACSI (2013)
Business Ethics Political donations
According to the democracyforsale.net website, this company donated $638,000 to Australia's major political parties between 2012 and 2018, as disclosed to the Australian Electoral Commision (AEC).
Source: Democracy For Sale (2018)
Environment Climate action commitments
As listed on the We Mean Business website, this company has committed to the following climate action initiatives: put a price on carbon; responsible corporate engagement in climate policy; report climate change information in mainstream reports as a fiduciary duty.
Source: We Mean Business (2021)
Social Modern Slavery Statement disclosure quality
Modern slavery disclosure is a critical step in mitigating the risk associated with modern slavery practices in companies' operations and supply chains. The quality of the disclosure signals the level of commitments and efforts that the companies have put in managing these risks. In 2021 the Monash Centre for Financial Studies analysed and ranked the disclosure quality of the modern slavery statements submitted by the 100 largest listed companies on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX100). This company ranked #3 of 100 companies.
Source: Monash University (2021)
Business Ethics Tax paying in Australia
Between 2015 and 2018 this company paid $3 billion tax on a total income of $199 billion, earning the number 8 spot on Michael West's Top 40 Tax Payers 2020. West calculated which of Australia's largest companies have paid the most tax using three years of tax transparency data published by the Australian Tax Office.
Source: Michael West (2018)
Business Ethics Sustainability claims
This company has sustainability claims on its website in the areas of sourcing, community, environment and indigenous engagement.
Source: company website (2019)
Environment Previous involvement with coal
This company used to operate coal mines, but sold off its last coal asset in 2018.
Source: Reuters (2022)
Social Modern Slavery statement
California, the UK and Australia have all enacted legislation requiring companies operating within their borders to disclose their efforts to eradicate modern slavery from their operations and supply chains. Follow the link to see this company's disclosure statement.
Source: Modern Slavery Registry (2017)

> About the Icons

Company Details

Type Wholly-owned subsidiary
Revenue 7.3 billion AUD (2012)
Employees 33,000+ (2012)

Contact Details

Address 16 - 18 Cato St, Hawthorn East, VIC, 3123, Australia
Phone 03 8831 9777
Email customer_service@bunnings.com.au
Website www.bunnings.com.au

Products / Brands

Bunnings
Bunnings Hardware Stores
Moretti Heating & Cooling


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