Best Buy sustainability score: 34/100
Making progress starts at 46. The highest score on SINK is 71.
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Best Buy sells computers, mobile phones, consumer electronics, appliances and gaming products, and services such as repair, installation, warranties and memberships, through 1,068 stores and online in the United States and Canada. Best Buy Co., Inc. was incorporated in Minnesota in 1966.
More about Best Buy
It had about 82,000 employees in the US and Canada at the end of its fiscal year to 31 January 2026, and $41,691 million revenue in that year.
Founded 1966Head office Richfield, United StatesStaff ~82,000 year-end (31 January 2026)Revenue ~US$41.7B revenue (US$41,691M, fiscal year to 31 January 2026)Website ↗
Best Buy's footprint was 16,000,444 tCO2e in its fiscal year to 1 February 2025, mostly the electricity its products use (12,644,392 t). It rose from 14,571,098 t a year earlier, mainly because the goods it buys (2,977,901 t) were counted for the first time; transport is still left out. Most of its cut in power emissions rests on certificates from solar fields it invested in, towards a 75% cut in Scope 1 and 2 by 2030 from 2009 that it says meets SBTi requirements. In April 2022 it paid a $199,821 EPA penalty for selling unregistered, misbranded disinfectant wipes. It runs a national take-back scheme for old electronics, but missed its 85% US waste diversion target (66% in FY26).
Best Buy scores 34/100 (Below expectations) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Nobody can pay to change a score, speed it up or hide it. Last verified November 2026.
That places Best Buy joint 662nd of 1,118 companies scored, and joint 36th of 67 in Retail (non-fashion).
What is Best Buy doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Carbon Footprint: Operations and Transparency & Accountability (8/10, 7/10). Weakest on Emissions Trajectory and Nature & Biodiversity Impact (0/10, 2/10).
Where Best Buy lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
What would raise this score
- Whether its emissions are fallingShow its emissions are falling.
- Its effect on natureAssess its effect on nature and publish a basic environmental policy.
- How clean its energy isShow at least half its energy is renewable, with a transition plan.
Every question that lost points
- Emissions from its own operations8/10No verified figures published with their method and a falling trend.
- Emissions from its supply chain6/10No full value-chain map or supplier engagement programme.
- Whether its emissions are falling0/10No evidence its emissions are falling.
- How clean its energy is4/10Less than half its energy shown to be renewable, or no transition plan.
- Its effect on nature2/10No assessment of its effect on nature, and no basic environmental policy.
- How it uses materials and handles waste5/10No measurable waste or recycling targets reported publicly.
- Its effect on water5/10No measured water footprint with reduction targets.
- Its climate targets6/10Its targets aren't validated by the Science Based Targets initiative.
- How openly it reports7/10No annual impact report, or no pay linked to climate targets.
- Its record on controversies6/10Points deducted for controversies or its business model. The finding is under question 10.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is Best Buy's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleWhat evidence is Best Buy's score based on?
12 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
33% of them were published by Best Buy itself; the rest come from independent sources.
8 of 12 sources are independent of the company.
“Scope 1 emissions (mtCO2e) 209,440 185,561 -11%”
“emissions data is independently verified by Optera”
“In FY25, we expanded our efforts to include Tier 1 suppliers within the Purchased Goods and Services category.”
“Restricted Substances List (RSL) constrains the safe use of chemicals by our private-label”
“Best Buy has agreed to pay a $199,821 civil penalty and has revised its environmental management systems”
“7. Best Buy 392,827,000 57% Various”
“The solar field can generate nearly 6 million kilowatt-hours of electricity each year to power the site.”
“The report found that a large retailer and Fortune 500 company, Best Buy, were implicated in the harmful exports revealed by BAN’s GPS tracking”
“a “large retailer and Fortune 500 company (Best Buy)” was directly implicated via GPS tracking in the report”
“Best Buy 60% 23% 53% 16% C”
“Best Buy agreed to pay a $199,821 civil penalty”
“The following is a list of major trade organizations to which Best Buy paid dues in 2021:”
If you believe a source has been misread or a newer version exists, submit a challenge.
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How does Best Buy compare with other retail (non-fashion) companies?
Where Best Buy sits among retail (non-fashion) peers.
Among the 67 major retail (non-fashion) brands we've scored, Best Buy is tied =36th of 67, with 1 other.
Who scores higher in Retail (non-fashion)?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Best Buy.
ALDI SOUTH has validated net-zero targets and eliminated 63% of operational emissions since 2016, but total Scope 3 emissions rose 18% in 2023 due to expansion.
See the breakdown →Aldi UK has validated science-based net-zero targets and reduced operational emissions 4.3% year-on-year, but absolute Scope 3 emissions rose 18% in 2023 due to business expansion.
See the breakdown →O'Reilly's footprint was 3,605,121 tCO2e in 2025, the sum of its printed Scope 1, market-based Scope 2 and Scope 3 lines, up from 3,470,930 t in 2024.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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