Rite Aid Expands Commitment to Improving Chemical Management and Product Safety
March 03 2021 - 10:00AM
Business Wire
The company has achieved 98% compliance on 2016
commitment to remove harmful chemicals in products sold
Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD) today announced expanded commitments to
reduce toxic chemicals in the products it sells, doubling down on
its efforts to ensure clean, safe product ingredients as part of
the company’s RxEvolution strategy.
Rite Aid’s commitment to improve chemical management and product
safety directly aligns with the company’s objective to help
customers achieve whole health. Following an evaluation of current
practices, Rite Aid has identified several new areas for
improvement in its revised chemical policy, committing to:
- Issuing a food-contact materials restricted substance list and
requiring own brand suppliers to certify that all packaging and
packaging components sold to Rite Aid comply with the requirements
of federal and state packaging laws, as well as with the company’s
corporate restricted list for food-contact packaging materials.
- Suppliers will also be required to certify that restricted
chemicals were not intentionally added to their packaging, and do
not exceed restriction limits laid out in the restricted substance
list. The full list of chemicals and corresponding restriction
limits may be found as an addendum to the Company Chemical Policy
on Rite Aid’s website.
- Offering increased product ingredient transparency by requiring
suppliers to provide additional disclosure surrounding generic
ingredients, like “fragrance,” by December 2023.
- Enhancing consumer transparency efforts around desired product
attributes, such as organic, non-GMO, cruelty-free, and paraben
free, making it easier for customers to identify cleaner
products.
“Rite Aid’s RxEvolution is about promoting whole health, and
we’re dedicated to ensuring that our merchandise is aligned to that
goal,” said Erik Keptner, chief marketing & merchandising
officer, Rite Aid. “We’re proud of our work to offer cleaner, more
sustainable products. Our expanded commitment is another step
forward in our journey to offer our customers product choices they
can feel great about.”
In 2016, Rite Aid executed a formal chemical management policy
and committed to removing eight chemicals of concern (triclosan,
propyl paraben, formaldehyde, dibutyl phthalate, toluene, diethyl
phthalate, butyl paraben, and nonylphenol ethoxylates) from its own
brand formulated products by the end of 2020. Rite Aid has reached
98% compliance with its commitment and is actively working with
outstanding supplier partners to reformulate or transition
remaining items to ensure total compliance.
Beyond its commitment to eliminate eight chemicals of high
concern, Rite Aid continues to screen all formulated products
against its full restricted substance list (RSL) that contains 69
chemicals of concern. This list was expanded to go beyond
regulatory requirements and include additional chemicals that the
US retail sector has prioritized for elimination. The complete list
may be found as part of Rite Aid’s chemical policy.
In conjunction with its chemical policy, the continuing
merchandise transformation emphasizes a broader assortment of
products that contain cleaner ingredients and are better for the
environment. As part of a robust screening, tracking and monitoring
protocol, Rite Aid has moved from survey-based assessments of RSL
compliance to automated screening using the WERCSmart platform;
suppliers are required to report all ingredients in their
formulated products to WERCSmart. Rite Aid will leverage these
reports to benchmark its progress toward meeting chemical
management and product safety goals.
As part of these efforts, Rite Aid has continued its work with
the Mind the Store campaign. The campaign works with hundreds of
organizations and businesses and encourages retailers to replace
chemicals of concern with safer alternatives.
“We are very pleased to see that Rite Aid is taking concrete
actions to safeguard its customers and communities from toxic
chemicals,” said Mike Schade, Mind the Store campaign director.
“Today’s announcement shows excellent progress; setting higher bars
on chemical management is a growing sustainability trend among
retailers. In our work with Rite Aid over the last year, we have
been impressed by the significant progress made despite the global
pandemic.”
To assist Rite Aid’s stakeholders in understanding the impact of
the objectives outlined above, Rite Aid will continue reporting
progress on its chemical management initiatives, elimination
commitment and program expansion as a part of its annual Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR) report. Additional information about
Rite Aid and its CSR efforts can be found here.
About Rite Aid Corporation
Rite Aid Corporation is on the front lines of delivering
healthcare services and retail products to more than 1.6 million
Americans daily. Our pharmacists are uniquely positioned to engage
with customers and improve their health outcomes. We provide an
array of whole being health products and services for the entire
family through over 2,400 retail pharmacy locations across 17
states. Through Elixir, we provide pharmacy benefits and services
to approximately 4 million members nationwide. For more
information, www.riteaid.com.
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Chris Savarese 717-975-5718 christopher.savarese@riteaid.com
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