Hasbro puts responsible business into play

Hasbro, the huge international board game and toy manufacturer, used only renewable energy in 2016 for the second consecutive year in the US, and all activities in its US operations were carbon-neutral.

The Rhode Island-based company, whose signature product is Monopoly, the world’s best-selling board game, makes the claim in its annual ethics report covering 2016.

The company is similarly proud that it has had no product recalls for nearly a decade.

On gender equality the report announces that two of the three directors Hasbro added in 2016 were women, and that at October 2017 five of its 12 board members were female.

Hasbro attaches great importance to its social role. The report says that through grant-making, philanthropic partnerships, product donations and employee volunteering the company has made a lasting impact on more than 3.8 million children and families worldwide.

In detail, financial and product contributions exceeded $14m (£10.5m, €11.9m) in 2016 and 93 per cent of its employees gave volunteer service.

Hasbro’s ethical record earned it top placing in the 100 Best Corporate Citizens List for 2017 published by CR Magazine, one of the leading business rankings in the US.

The company’s short-term targets are to achieve 100 per cent renewable energy use and carbon neutrality in its operations worldwide by the end of 2017, to audit all its third-party factories annually through its ethical sourcing programme and to remedy shortcomings in partnership with them.

In the longer term, Hasbro’s 2025 goals for its worldwide operations, based on 2015 figures, are to cut landfill waste by half, water consumption by 15 per cent, and energy use and greenhouse gas emissions both by 20 per cent. 

At the same time it wants to raise the number of its women directors globally to 50 per cent and to increase its hiring of minorities in the US to 40 per cent.

When the achievements and targets in the 2016 report, called Playing with Purpose, were published, Hasbro chairman and chief executive Brian Goldner said: “Our deep commitment to CSR reflects our desire to help build a safe, sustainable world for future generations.

“We measure our success not only by our results but also by how we achieve those results.

“Through play and responsible business we are fulfilling our purpose to make the world a better place for children and their families.”