Download the 2025 Report
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planet
waste & circularity
GOAL
Divert 80% of operational waste from landfill by 2025
2025 PROGRESS
61% of waste diverted from landfill
61%
We continued working toward our goal to divert 80% of our operational waste20 from landfill by 2025, and achieved an overall diversion rate of 61%, led by our distribution centers which diverted 80% of their waste from landfill.
We aim to replicate the success of our distribution centers across all operations; however, data collection and waste management capabilities vary across locations, affecting our access to primary data. We directly manage waste and can obtain primary data from approximately 200 stores through a dedicated waste services provider. The remaining retail locations operate under landlord-managed waste systems. For these locations, we estimate waste volumes by extrapolating data from directly-managed stores using an average per square foot of retail space. Given these challenges, we were unable to meet our 80% diversion goal. However, we are reevaluating a new waste goal pertaining to those operations that we have more primary control over, and we will report our progression in future updates. Detailed waste metrics are third-party validated and can be found in our disclosure indexes.
At the end of 2025, we also made a commitment to reduce single-use plastics in our corporate headquarters. We are reducing the use of plasticware and water bottles and have gifted employees with reusable cutlery. While this was a small change, it was a meaningful step toward reducing our overall plastic use and waste.
waste from direct operations (tons)
recycling
landfill
20
Operational waste includes waste disposed of at our offices, retail stores, and distribution centers.
electronic waste management
Carter’s headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, has participated in the building’s electronic waste recycling program for many years. Through this program, we collect electronics that have reached the end of their lives and provide them to our landlord. The landlord works with a certified recycler who follows federal guidelines to ensure they do not end up in landfills. Since 2023, we have collected more than 20,000 pounds of electronics for recycling.
product circularity
A circular fashion economy promotes products designed for regeneration by using safe, recycled, and renewable materials to extend product lifespan. Carter’s is working toward product circularity by first exploring more sustainable alternatives to end-of-life solutions.
The children’s apparel sector presents unique opportunities and challenges for circularity. The inherent “hand-me-down” nature of children’s clothing aligns naturally with circular principles, yet factors like fiber-to-fiber recycling technology and the availability and cost of recycled textile inputs present challenges. Through carefully designed programs and partnerships, we are creating and seeking scalable solutions that address these industry-specific challenges while meeting our consumers’ increased demands for sustainable products.
pre-consumer textile recycling
Pre-consumer textile recycling reclaims production waste like factory overruns or garments with errors before they are sold to consumers. Since these materials are clean and pre-sorted, they are easy to process, helping to reduce landfill waste and preserve resources. In 2025, we launched a pilot with a materials collection and sorting provider. Collected garments were either recycled or downcycled through shredding to produce “shoddy,” which is then used to make performance products like acoustical dampening material, insulation, and athletic equipment filling material.
Nearly 17,000 pounds of mixed fibers were repurposed or downcycled, avoiding the landfill, in 2025.
post-consumer textile recycling
Our flagship circularity program, KIDCYCLE™, continues to demonstrate the potential for scaled textile recycling in the children’s apparel sector. The original program allowed customers to mail apparel that would otherwise be discarded, to our partner, TerraCycle, for recycling at no cost. TerraCycle sorts, shreds, and transforms the collected materials into items such as insulation for mattresses, pet bedding, and sports equipment.
In 2025, we evolved our approach to KIDCYCLE™ to strengthen our collection infrastructure while improving customer visibility and accessibility to the program by offering in-store drop-off locations at approximately 140 U.S. stores from May through August. In half of these stores, we offered consumers a discount toward a future purchase, and in the other half, we did not, so that we could evaluate whether an incentive supported consumer engagement with the drop-off bins. The total pounds of apparel recycled in 2025 decreased compared to prior years, due to the shorter collection period, but the overall results from the new approach were positive and drove expansion of in-store collection to nearly 700 retail stores in 2026.
KIDCYCLE™ recycling
pounds recycled
extended producer responsibility (EPR)
The regulatory landscape for packaging and textile waste is rapidly evolving, driven by new EPR laws emerging across multiple jurisdictions where we operate. Through many of these regulations, Carter’s is defined as a “producer” and is held responsible for the full life cycle of our packaging and textile products, as applicable by these laws. This includes how these items are disposed of at the end of life. While we currently manage packaging EPR obligations in the U.S. and other countries, the introduction of similar requirements in additional jurisdictions and the inclusion of textile requirements will expand our responsibilities.
We are actively preparing for increasing EPR regulations through activities such as:
- Registering with compliant Producer Responsibility Organizations
- Creating implementation plans for upcoming state-specific requirements
- Developing comprehensive, internal packaging data tracking systems
- Exploring expansion of eco-modulation opportunities (product recycling, reuse, resale, etc.), including through our KIDCYCLE™ program, to optimize future compliance costs
packaging
Packaging is vital for product protection, from manufacturing to the customer’s home. It also serves as a key first impression, whether via checking a tag or unboxing an eCommerce order. To meet evolving regulations and consumer expectations, we are refining our strategy to drive meaningful impact. Our approach focuses on serving our customers while eliminating waste, maximizing recycled content, and enhancing recyclability—without compromising the safety or integrity of our products.
GOAL
Achieve 50% reduction in virgin plastic packaging by 2030
2025 PROGRESS
Reduced the use of virgin plastic packaging by 90% compared to the 2022 baseline
90% of our total plastic packaging was made of recycled content
90%
elimination
Removing unnecessary packaging
optimization
Improving packaging efficiency and reducing materials
innovation
Increasing recycled content and testing new materials
2025 packaging reduction efforts
retail operations
- Transitioned from plastic to paper shopping bags at select store locations
distribution centers
- Maintained carton reuse for shipping from distribution centers to retail stores, with approximately 100% of corrugate boxes reused
- Generated cardboard recycling rebates
product packaging
- Committed to transition to 100% recycled content hangers for Carter’s brand retail stores and non-exclusive wholesale accounts by 202621
- Skip Hop continued using 100% recycled polybags and printed retail packaging across soft goods lines
21
Both types of hangers will be in circulation as we phase out our existing hanger inventory.