Better Health for All

Walgreens Boots Alliance's core business, including digital healthcare services, an extensive pharmacy network, mobile clinics, and partnerships for Medicare Advantage plans, delivers substantial health benefits. The company offers features like pill reminders, prescription refills, 24/7 pharmacist chat, same-day prescription delivery, primary care, screenings, and vaccinations

, . However, Walgreens announced plans to close approximately 2,150 stores in the next three years , which may create pharmacy deserts in underserved areas, impacting access to medications and healthcare for vulnerable populations . This represents a significant negative health externality. In clinical research, Walgreens formed an inaugural Patient Advisory Board in December 2024 to increase representation in clinical trials, particularly among historically excluded communities . The company's operations do not involve holding healthcare-related patents or producing food or nutritional products.

Fair Money & Economic Opportunity

Walgreens Boots Alliance's core business is retail pharmacy and healthcare services. The provided articles discuss store closures

, layoffs , the company's financial stability , and its commitment to diversity and inclusion in employment and supply chain . Walgreens has announced plans to close 1200 stores over the next three years, with 500 closures in fiscal 2025. Walgreens has conducted multiple rounds of layoffs, including 256 support center roles. Walgreens has been downgraded by S&P and Moody's due to increased debt and financial pressures. Walgreens Boots Alliance was recognized as Disability:IN's Employer of the Year for its policies promoting disability inclusiveness. However, none of the evidence indicates that the company offers financial products or services such as lending, insurance, or deposit services to consumers. Therefore, there is no relevant data to assess Walgreens against the KPIs for 'Fair Money & Economic Opportunity', which specifically evaluate financial institutions and their financial service offerings.

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

Walgreens Boots Alliance published its 2024 Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement, detailing risk-based auditing for owned brand suppliers.

In fiscal year 2024, over 1,000 ethical compliance assessments were conducted, with 52.9% rated satisfactory, 38.5% needing improvement, 8.6% critical, and 0% zero tolerance violations. The company's ethical auditing process involves third-party vendors assessing manufacturing sites for safety, legal compliance, and employee welfare. In October 2023, Walgreens pharmacy staff staged walkouts across approximately 300 locations, protesting poor working conditions, understaffing, excessive workloads, and inadequate support. In March 2021, Walgreens settled a class-action lawsuit in California for $4.5 million, addressing allegations of wage theft and labor law violations between 2010 and 2017. The company was recognized as Disability:IN's Employer of the Year in July 2023 and achieved a 100% score on the Disability Equality Index for seven consecutive years. It became the first S&P 500 company to include disability representation as a standalone metric in its incentive plan, achieving a nearly 3 percentage point increase in employees with disabilities at all levels, and maintains a 'same job, same expectations, same pay' model for individuals with disabilities.

Honest & Fair Business

Walgreens agreed to pay $300 million to resolve allegations that it dispensed invalid opioid prescriptions and billed federal healthcare programs

. Additionally, the company will pay $106.8 million to settle claims of fraudulent billing for uncollected prescriptions , which was attributed to a software error .

Kind to Animals

Walgreens Boots Alliance achieved its commitment to source 100% cage-free shell and liquid eggs by 2022, three years ahead of its 2025 target.

While the company offers several cruelty-free products, including its owned brand Botanics which is Leaping Bunny certified, some Walgreens-branded products may still be subject to animal testing, indicating a gap in fully eliminating testing across all product lines. The company publicly supports the Humane Cosmetics Act, which aims to ban animal testing in cosmetics in the U.S.

No War, No Weapons

Walgreens Boots Alliance joined the United Nations Global Compact Initiative in 2020, committing to align its operations with principles including human rights.

Since 2016, the company has partnered with Tricare, the Department of Defense's healthcare program, to provide pharmacy services to military personnel and their families. Additionally, Walgreens offered Veterans Day discounts to military personnel and veterans in 2013 and reaffirmed its support for employees in the National Guard and Reserve in 2012 by offering pay differential and extending health benefits.

Planet-Friendly Business

No specific, quantitative data points were provided in the articles that directly map to the defined thresholds for any of the Planet-Friendly Business KPIs. While the articles mention a 25% reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2023

, the use of renewable diesel in some distribution centers , installation of solar panels at over 240 locations , and a power purchase agreement for wind energy supplying 200,000 MWh annually , these do not provide the total emissions in tCO₂e or the percentage of total energy from renewables. Similarly, efforts to reduce plastic waste by removing 30 million plastic bags and transitioning 13 tons of black plastic caps to white are noted, but these do not provide a waste diversion rate or a percentage reduction in packaging CO₂ per unit.

Respect for Cultures & Communities

Walgreens Boots Alliance has not reported any cultural appropriation incidents. The company has engaged with diverse communities through several initiatives, including a partnership with This Must Be the Place (TMBTP) in August 2024 to distribute Naloxone at cultural events.

In December 2024, WBA established a Patient Advisory Board to enhance representation in clinical research for historically excluded communities. The company also launched a Health Equity Champions Network in February 2024 and developed Business Resource Groups to support diverse communities. WBA sponsors initiatives like the Expressions Challenge, which empowers youth to engage with cultural narratives, and has sponsored lectures featuring advocates like a Cherokee health advocate discussing healthcare access. WBA's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion was recognized with a World Sustainability Award in December 2023, and the company has published a global diversity and inclusion report detailing efforts to diversify its workforce and conduct unconscious bias training.

Safe & Smart Tech

Walgreens Boots Alliance experienced three data breaches between September 2019 and June 2020. In September 2019, unauthorized third parties accessed customer accounts on Walgreens.com

, leading to a class-action lawsuit alleging inadequate cybersecurity measures and delayed notification . In January 2020, an internal application error in the mobile app allowed personal messages to be viewable by other users . In June 2020, break-ins at approximately 180 stores resulted in the theft of health-related information of over 72,000 individuals . These incidents also represent unauthorized data use. The company states it has implemented leading data protection standards and conducts regular privacy impact assessments .

Zero Waste & Sustainable Products

Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) faced allegations of unlawful hazardous waste disposal between 2013 and 2020

, resulting in a $3.5 million settlement in 2026 , following a previous $16.57 million judgment in 2012 . The company reported a corporate waste recovery rate of 72.35% in 2023 . WBA has implemented numerous waste reduction initiatives, including recycling 552 metric tons of stock bottles and caps in 2023 , sending 633 metric tons of film to Trex , and diverting 255 metric tonnes of plastic waste through its "Recycle at Boots" program . WBA has set company-wide targets for its owned brands, aiming to reduce plastic packaging by 30% and ensure 100% of packaging is recyclable or reusable by 2030 . Customer education efforts include How2Recycle and OPRL labels on thousands of owned brand items , as well as awareness campaigns and recycling kits . WBA also operates over 1,500 safe medication disposal kiosks , which have safely disposed of 3,022 tonnes of unwanted medication since 2016 .