Hasbro Advances Major Corporate Social Responsibility Priorities Including Eliminating Plastic in Packaging, Expanding Toy Recycling Program Globally and Furthering Environmental Assessments of Suppliers

Rhea-AI Summary

Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) released its 2019-20 Corporate Social Responsibility Update, showcasing significant ESG advancements and a proactive approach to diversity and inclusion. The report highlights milestones such as the goal to eliminate plastic in new product packaging by the end of 2022 and achieving 99.4% renewable energy usage. The company emphasizes its commitment to human rights and ethical sourcing through rigorous supplier audits. Additionally, Hasbro's COVID-19 response included employee support initiatives and community assistance measures. The update aligns with global sustainability standards.

Positive

• Goals set to eliminate plastic in packaging of new products by end of 2022.
• Achieved 99.4% renewable energy usage through investment in renewable energy credits.
• Established a formal Diversity & Inclusion function and aims for 25% diverse representation by 2025.

Negative

• None.

PAWTUCKET, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) today issued a 2019-20 Corporate Social Responsibility Update. The update highlights Hasbro’s ESG advancements in key areas in 2019, reinforcing a multi-tiered strategy to directly engage employees, partner with governments and organizations to set and improve industry standards, and leverage supply chains to drive accountability. It also details Hasbro’s 2019 acquisition of eOne and the opportunities it unlocks for corporate citizenship through storytelling, content responsibility and social engagement. Most notably, the update details the company’s agile response to aligning its CSR priorities with the fast-changing environment globally, including the needs of various stakeholders amid the global pandemic and social unrest across the United States.

In 2019 and 2020, Hasbro took multiple actions to strengthen its commitment to the environment. Key milestones include:

• Establishing a goal to eliminate all plastic in packaging of new products by the end of 2022
• Expanding the Hasbro Toy Recycling program to six countries
• Achieving its goal of virtually 100% renewable energy (99.4% through investment in renewable energy credits and carbon offsets).

Additionally, Hasbro became the first in its industry to pilot the Higg Index, originally developed by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), to further assess the environmental impact of its toy and game suppliers.

The past year was critical for Hasbro’s approach to Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) with the establishment of a formal D&I function in 2019 and a signed commitment to the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion pledge. In response to social unrest around race issues in the U.S., Hasbro hosted employee listening forums and launched a Global Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging program to hear directly from employees about their personal experiences. Looking to the future, the company restated its goal to grow ethnically and racially diverse employee representation in the U.S. to 25% by 2025.

“Hasbro has a proud legacy as a responsible corporate citizen, but the extraordinary events of the past year have reinforced the importance of leading with purpose and living our values,” said Brian Goldner, chairman and CEO of Hasbro. “With the acquisition of eOne, we now have an even greater platform to influence culture and play, and within everything we do, we remain mindful of our increased responsibility to be a force for good and convener of progress.”

The worldwide pandemic in 2020 marked an enormous test of the organization’s resolve. Throughout the crisis, Hasbro used its resources, brands and expertise to protect the health, safety and well-being of its employees and support its communities. This included supporting work-at-home arrangements, implementing health & safety workplace protocols and providing a one-time payment to help employees with Covid-19-related expenses. The company took initiative to support its communities by working with a partner manufacturing supplier to convert the operation to personal protective equipment production for frontline medical workers, creating its Bring Home the Fun website to provide support for family activities during Covid-19-related school closures, donating toys and games to families around the world and combating childhood hunger by supporting local food pantries and national programs like Save the Children and No Kid Hungry.

Other highlights from this interim report include:

• Culture & Human Capital Management
  • Set a 50 percent diverse interview goal for all open positions in the U.S. where there is underrepresentation
  • Established domestic partner benefits and a new work-life balance policy supporting work flexibility
  • Provided technological tools, ergonomic support, internet capacity, mental health support and many other tools to support the workforce during COVID-19
  • Achieved 95% employee volunteer participation globally

• Human Rights & Ethical Sourcing:
  • 100% of our third-party vendor and licensees’ agreements contain human rights clauses and these suppliers are subject to human rights audits and impact assessments, and 100% of our third-party factories undergo regular social compliance audits
  • Further strengthened our Worker Well-Being Program, which was first piloted in 2018, to help empower female factory workers in our supply chain with training on life-enhancing skills and knowledge around nutrition, reproductive health, problem solving and financial literacy
    • One program with a supplier in China has already impacted 1,175 women workers, and 42 managers have been trained to continue leading the BSR HERHealth program in coming years
  • Recognized externally for our strong conflict minerals program, ranking in the top six percent out of 207 companies by the independent Responsible Sourcing Network (RSN) and earning the highest score in the Travel and Leisure category
  • Achieved “Full Member” status in the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA), the world’s largest multi-industry coalition dedicated to implementing and sharing corporate social responsibility best practices across global supply chains

• Product & Content Safety
  • As Hasbro continues to expand its global sourcing footprint, the company published an official Materials and Chemical Management Policy to guide the specification, sourcing and screening of materials and chemicals in product and packaging for all Hasbro products worldwide
  • Managed the transition to third-party manufacturing facilities in India and Vietnam, from a China-based supply chain with mature quality systems
  • Conducted over 50 quality assurance in-person training sessions with vendors, suppliers, labs, and Hasbro employees, totaling more than 1,000 hours of training
  • Participated in The Chemical Footprint Project to develop and advance the concept and practice of chemical footprinting to reduce the use of chemicals of high concern

"While we have made great strides across all of our CSR priorities, we recognize that we are on an ongoing journey," said Kathrin Belliveau, senior vice president, Global Government, Regulatory Affairs and CSR. “We are committed to building and executing innovative, best-in-class CSR and ESG strategies and programs that resonate with our stakeholders. We will continue to evaluate our commitments and set new targets so that we can ensure that our products and business practices live up to our purpose of making the world a better place for all children and all families.”

Hasbro ranked among the 2020 100 Best Corporate Citizens by 3BL Media, has been named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies® by Ethisphere Institute for the past nine years, and ranked No. 1 in the Household Goods & Apparel category in the 2021 list of America’s Most JUST Companies by Forbes and JUST Capital. This interim report, which is in alignment with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards guidelines and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Bureau (SASB) Toys & Sporting Goods Industry Standard, serves as a guide to Hasbro’s progress before the next comprehensive CSR Report in 2021. To learn more about Hasbro's CSR efforts, please visit www.hasbro.com/csr.

About Hasbro

Hasbro (NASDAQ: HAS) is a global play and entertainment company committed to Creating the World's Best Play and Entertainment Experiences. From toys, games and consumer products to television, movies, digital gaming, live action, music, and virtual reality experiences, Hasbro connects to global audiences by bringing to life great innovations, stories and brands across established and inventive platforms. Hasbro’s iconic brands include NERF, MAGIC: THE GATHERING, MY LITTLE PONY, TRANSFORMERS, PLAY-DOH, MONOPOLY, BABY ALIVE, POWER RANGERS, PEPPA PIG and PJ MASKS, as well as premier partner brands. Through its global entertainment studio, eOne, Hasbro is building its brands globally through great storytelling and content on all screens. Hasbro is committed to making the world a better place for all children and all families through corporate social responsibility and philanthropy. Hasbro ranked among the 2020 100 Best Corporate Citizens by 3BL Media, has been named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies® by Ethisphere Institute for the past nine years, and one of America’s Most JUST Companies by Forbes and JUST Capital for the past four years. We routinely share important business and brand updates on our Investor Relations website, Newsroom and social channels (@Hasbro on Twitter and Instagram, and @HasbroOfficial on Facebook.)

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