Carbon Footprint — Operations: How does Tyson Foods, Inc. score?

Tyson reported FY2022 Scope 1 of 3,561,979 tCO₂e and Scope 2 of 2,201,109 tCO₂e (location-based), totalling ~5.76 Mt via CDP Climate 2023. GHG Protocol methodology is used with multi-year tracking since 2004. However, no third-party verification is confirmed, no sustainability report has been published since 2022, and emissions remain above the 2016 baseline of 5.42 Mt, indicating no meaningful reduction despite targets.

Carbon Footprint — Supply Chain: How does Tyson Foods, Inc. score?

Tyson has not published a category-level breakdown of Scope 3 emissions. IATP/GRAIN estimated total emissions (including Scope 3) at ~118 Mt CO₂e in 2018 using FAO GLEAM, with beef production responsible for an estimated 85% of total emissions. EWG's lawsuit highlighted that Tyson omits key Scope 3 sources including land use change from grazing and feed production. The Scope 3 target is intensity-based (per ton of finished meat) covering only ~80% of Scope 3 inventory, not absolute. This enormou

Emissions Trajectory: How does Tyson Foods, Inc. score?

Net0Tracker records no absolute emission reduction in its database for Tyson. Tracenable data shows that 2022 Scope 1+2 emissions (5.76 Mt) exceeded the 2016 baseline (5.42 Mt), placing the company well behind its 30% reduction target for 2030. Scope 1 showed a 6.9% decrease from 2021 to 2022, but Scope 2 rose 12.5% in the same period. The Scope 3 target is intensity-based, not absolute — which is a greenwashing red flag given the massive scale of supply chain emissions. The emissions trajectory

Energy Source: How does Tyson Foods, Inc. score?

Tyson set a target to use 50% renewable energy across US domestic operations by 2030 and has signed a 200 MW wind PPA and installed some on-site solar. However, no current percentage of renewable energy use is publicly available, no sustainability report has been published since 2022, and the company is not a member of RE100. For a company with 239 facilities and enormous energy consumption in meat processing (refrigeration, cooking, transport), progress toward the 50% target remains unverified

Nature & Biodiversity Impact: How does Tyson Foods, Inc. score?

Tyson's core business drives enormous nature and biodiversity impacts: it used 4.89 million acres of soy and 5.2 million acres of corn for animal feed (2020 data), and livestock grazing is a primary driver of deforestation. Its Forest Protection Standard (2020) found 6% of its land footprint at medium-high deforestation risk. It reduced deforestation disclosures between its 2021 and 2022 sustainability reports. Its deforestation-free beef target is 2028 — lagging peers who committed to 2025. No

Resource Use & Waste: How does Tyson Foods, Inc. score?

Tyson's 2022 Sustainability Report reported a 78% waste recycle and beneficial reuse rate and launched a zero waste to landfill pilot at three facilities, diverting over 5 million pounds of waste. It has switched to sustainable packaging for Jimmy Dean brand. However, the core business model is fundamentally linear: massive industrial animal agriculture producing billions of animals annually. There is no comprehensive circularity programme, and the company has not published any updated waste dat

Water Impact: How does Tyson Foods, Inc. score?

A 2024 Union of Concerned Scientists report found Tyson released 371.7 million pounds of pollutants — nitrogen, phosphorus, chloride, oil, and cyanide — into US waterways from just 41 plants between 2018-2022, with 87 billion gallons of wastewater discharged. Tyson paid a $2 million criminal fine in 2018 for CWA violations in Missouri and a $3 million settlement in 2021 over discharge that killed hundreds of thousands of fish in Alabama. In 2022 alone, Tyson discharged over 18.5 billion gallons

Targets & Commitments: How does Tyson Foods, Inc. score?

Tyson has SBTi-validated near-term targets (2018): 30% absolute reduction in Scope 1+2 by 2030 and 30% intensity reduction in Scope 3 per ton of finished meat by 2030. However, the Scope 3 target is intensity-based — not absolute — which is a significant weakness given that total Scope 3 can rise. The net-zero 2050 ambition was never SBTi-validated. Following the EWG greenwashing settlement in November 2025, Tyson agreed to stop making net-zero and climate-smart beef claims for five years. Emiss

Transparency & Accountability: How does Tyson Foods, Inc. score?

Tyson published CDP Climate, Water, and Forests reports through 2023 and a 2022 Sustainability Report, but FAIRR confirms no sustainability report was published in 2024. Tyson has sustainability governance through its Board Governance and Nominating Committee and had a Chief Sustainability Officer. However, the IATP ranks it among the lowest performing companies on their climate reporting scorecard. The DitchCarbon score is 24/100. Key data gaps remain — no full Scope 3 disclosure, reduced defor

Controversies & Red Flags: How does Tyson Foods, Inc. score?

Starting at 8 and deducting: EWG greenwashing lawsuit settled Nov 2025 with Tyson barred from net-zero/climate-smart claims for 5 years (-3). UCS documented 371 million lbs of pollutants in US waterways 2018-2022 (-2). Clean Water Act criminal fine 2018 and Alabama fish kill settlement 2021 (-1). Multiple price-fixing lawsuits: $221.5M poultry settlement (2021), $85M pork settlement (2025), $180M wage suppression settlement (2024), McDonald's price-fixing suit (2024) (-2). Member of US Chamber o

Tyson Foods, Inc. Sustainability Score: 17/100

Recently scored: Dentsu, Omnicom, Publicis Groupe, WPP

507 companies scored·4 score updates this week

Tyson Foods, Inc.·Food & Beverage (meat/dairy)·Springdale, Arkansas, US·Founded 1935·Last verified 21 April 2026

out of 100

Significant gapsPending Review-7 since last review

Tyson Foods operates one of the world's largest meat production systems with minimal emissions reductions, massive unquantified supply-chain carbon, severe water pollution, and a November 2025 greenwashing settlement barring climate claims. The company's intensity-based targets mask absolute emission increases, while documented pollutant discharge exceeds 371 million pounds into US waterways.

No challenges currently filed

The calculation

Every score shows its working.

Same formula for every company. No curve. No private weighting.

SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × Scale

Industry base impact

Food & Beverage (meat/dairy) sector ceiling.

30 / 100

Performance score

Sum of the 10 rubric questions, scored 0–10 each.

22 / 100

Raw score

Weighted average before scale penalty.

(0.3 × 30) + (0.7 × 22) = 24.4

Scale penalty

Multiplier based on absolute emissions volume — physics-first.

× 0.7

Final score

Rounded. Significant gaps.

17 / 100

The ten questions

Where Tyson Foods, Inc. is strong, and where it isn't.

Strongest on Carbon Footprint — Operations and Energy Source (5/10, 3/10). Weakest on Controversies & Red Flags and Water Impact (0/10, 1/10).

Where the evidence comes from

Every document used, listed.

18 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which rubric questions it informed.

[1]Third-party verified

Tyson Foods GHG Emissions

Ongoing

Q1Q2

Every score shows its working.

Where Tyson Foods, Inc. is strong, and where it isn't.

Every document used, listed.

Where Tyson Foods, Inc. sits among food & beverage (meat/dairy) peers.

Tyson Foods, Inc.'s score over time.

This score is not currently being contested.

Related companies worth a look.

We'll let you know when the score moves.

Which companies moved this week, and why.