Boots sustainability score: 33/100
Boots is a UK pharmacy, health and beauty retailer based in Nottingham; retail is about 70% of its revenue and pharmacy about 30%. Boots UK Limited was incorporated in 1968 as Boots the Chemists Limited; its roots go back to 1888 (The Boots Company PLC, 00027657).
More about Boots
It is part of The Boots Group, owned by Sycamore Partners since 2025. It had £7.5 billion revenue in its year to August 2025; its staff are employed through another group company.
Founded 1968Head office Nottingham, UKRevenue ~£7.5B revenue (FY to Aug 2025)Website ↗
Boots says its footprint was 1.14 million tCO2e in 2025 across Boots UK, Ireland, Opticians and No7, down from 1.22 million t in 2022, and that this includes the products it buys and sells; it publishes no breakdown, so SINK treats its supply-chain figure as partial and the size deduction (0.70x) applies. Its own emissions are down about 40% on 2019, but it publishes no renewable electricity share and still runs a gas-fired combined heat and power plant at its Nottingham site. It has committed to set SBTi targets but none is validated yet, and its own documents give net zero as both 2040 and 2050. It sends under 1% of its waste to landfill, but publishes no water figures.
Boots scores 33/100 (Below expectations) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Companies can never pay for anything about their own score. Last verified November 2026.
That places Boots joint 595th of 934 companies scored, and joint 32nd of 50 in Retail (non-fashion).
What is Boots doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Controversies & Red Flags and Carbon Footprint: Operations (7/10, 6/10). Weakest on Water Impact and Energy Source (1/10, 2/10).
Where Boots lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
- Emissions from its own operations6/10Its own emissions aren't independently verified or tracked over several years.
- Emissions from its supply chain6/10No full value-chain map or supplier engagement programme.
- Whether its emissions are falling6/10No consistent fall over several years across its operations and supply chain.
- How clean its energy is2/10No renewable energy tariff or major efficiency investment shown.
- Its effect on nature3/10No 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 water1/10No figures for its water use.
- Its climate targets5/10Its targets aren't science-based or committed to the Science Based Targets initiative.
- How openly it reports6/10No annual impact report, or no pay linked to climate targets.
- Its record on controversies7/10Points 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 Boots's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleHas Boots's score changed?
Boots's score has moved from 37 to 33 across 2 recorded reviews, down 4 points.
- 37 → 33-43 November 2026
Re-score under current methodology (brand batch: Christmas adverts); owner rulings 2026-11-03
- Scored 374 April 2026
Initial score at platform launch
What evidence is Boots's score based on?
13 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
31% of them were published by Boots itself; the rest come from independent sources.
Boots states its 1.14 Mt covers purchased goods and use of sold products, but publishes no breakdown; SINK treats its Scope 3 as partial.
9 of 13 sources are independent of the company.
“Total Scope 1 29,787 30,413 (PDF p.19, SECR table)”
“The Boots Group is reporting on two of the 15 Scope 3 categories.”
“Most of its palm oil is not certified to the highest and most stringent level of sustainability that RSPO offers”
“Today, we generate most of the energy our Nottingham site uses through our highly efficient CHP technology.”
“of palm oil used in Boots-owned brands is from RSPO physically certified sources”
“self-supply will enable it to take more control over its water usage and effluent discharge”
“Boots UK Ltd manufacturing processes gave rise to trade effluent which was discharged into private sewers”
“Boots and No7 Beauty Company are partnering with Manufacture 2030 to decelerate their emissions and drive climate action.”
“wet wipes containing plastic fibres will be removed from the point of sale by the end of the year”
“Boots has yet to meet our ethical standards”
“Boots UK, Boots Republic of Ireland and Boots Opticians”
“Boots has been criticised for its use of plastic bags in packaging customers' prescriptions at its pharmacy division.”
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How does Boots compare with other retail (non-fashion) companies?
Where Boots sits among retail (non-fashion) peers.
Among the 50 major retail (non-fashion) brands we've scored, Boots is tied =32nd of 50, with 3 others.
Who scores higher in Retail (non-fashion)?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Boots.
Poundland operates with minimal emissions transparency and no supply chain carbon quantification despite acknowledging this is where most impacts occur.
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 →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 →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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