Berry Global received the highest possible environmental and social (E&S) Disclosure QualityScores from the Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS). ISS recognized Berry with a environmental QualityScore of 1 and social QualityScore of 1, the highest ranking from the shareholder services company. The E&S Disclosure QualityScores seek to measure and identify risk in environmental and social areas of concern through thorough analysis of company disclosures. The E&S Disclosure QualityScores are in addition to Berry’s “Prime” environmental, social, and governance (ESG) score from ISS in November 2022. 

“Sustainability is a top priority for our company, positively impacting our own operational environmental footprint and supporting goals of our customers. Our history of setting and achieving ambitious sustainability goals along with increasing our transparency in alignment with industry-standard reporting frameworks, helps us to improve every day across our portfolio and operations,” said Robert Flores, VP of Sustainability at Berry Global.

Berry has made a targeted effort to disclose its significant strides in 2022, compared to 2021, including:

• Reduced total recordable incident rate to .82, down from .92 from previous year
• Increased purchase of post-consumer recycled plastic by 28% thanks to significant customer collaborations
• Increased circular plastic purchased by 21% through investments in Berry Circular Polymers and partnerships with key resin suppliers
• Achieved Scope 3 GHG emissions target four years in advance and increased the target accordingly
• Reduced Scope 1 and 2 (operational) GHG emissions by 5% and Scope 3 (value chain) GHG emissions by 5% 
• Increased percentage of women in salaried roles by 5% and of people of color in U.S.-based salaried roles by 6% making progress against the company’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) goals
• Increased average training hours per team member by 35% a result of greater investment in workforce development

“This external recognition of a social QualityScore of one reflects the importance we place on our culture, the way we treat our employees, and the on-going efforts to tailor our 40,000 global associate base experience across over 250 sites,” said Jeff Bennett, EVP & Chief Human Resources Officer. “Safety remains at the forefront of everything we do and we’re proud to report our lowest safety rate to-date. Along with safety, we disclosed and reported progress to increase the diversity of our salaried workforce and enhance our ongoing commitment to skill building.”

Evaluating more than 360 factors across the environmental and social pillars, the ISS E&S Disclosure QualityScore methodology adds a materiality focus to ensure companies are compared only to peers in their industry groups. The methodology focuses on material aspects of disclosure practices, including global disclosure standards and frameworks such as Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), and Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). To view these and other sustainability reporting documents, visit Berry’s reporting archive. 

Ratings calculated on August 4, 2023.