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2022 Sustainability Report

The Heart of a Sustainable Community

Parts Authority is advancing on an important journey to measure and improve its sustainable practices across the company. Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors have been a part of our mission and operations since our founding 50 years ago. What’s more, the automotive afterparts business is at the heart of a sustainable community, providing millions of parts that prolong the lives of vehicles, helping to reduce their lifetime carbon intensity. Parts Authority strives to provide team members with a safe, healthy work environment, and we engage with our communities nationwide through volunteerism and philanthropy.

"We help make motor vehicles last longer, run cleaner and get people and goods where they need to go more safely and reliably. We’re the vital link between makers and users of millions of car parts – and when our clients need anything, “The Answer is Yes”.
Randy Buller
President and CEO of Parts Authority

Parts Authority’s Values

Our Values – which will never change – articulate our foundational beliefs and are part of who we are. These Values are:

Integrity

We are honest, do the right thing, and always act in the best interest of our stakeholders.

Teamwork

We grow and develop as a group and accomplish more than we ever could on our own.

Pride

As a team we are proud of our accomplishments but remain humble in our success.

Embrace Differences

Our team is the sum of our individual perspectives and experiences.

Team members are responsible for living up to the Values every day and being an example to others in the company.

Maintaining Our Sustainability Momentum

The sustainability ethic at Parts Authority is imbedded in our company’s DNA, demonstrated at our oldest locations and newest acquisitions, and embraced by our team members across the nation.

Our 2022 Sustainability Report highlights a range of initiatives and metrics from across the company. We’ve adopted the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board’s (SASB) standards to understand material ESG topics for our industry and refer to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to help set goals and targets, which are summarized in each report section:

In addition to the formal reporting, our 2022 Sustainability Report features stories that demonstrate how deeply corporate responsibility is part of our company’s blood and bones.

“Our roots are in solid, old-fashioned mechanical parts, yet we also operate on the cutting edge of technology. We have a national footprint but are very much a local business. We trade in metal and circuitry, yet we have an extensive reuse and recycle program. We connect the biggest and best-known automotive parts brands with the smallest independent repair shops and, through our partners and the wonders of the internet, to millions of individuals fixing and maintaining their own vehicles. And our sustainability journey of discovery continues!”
Ben Spitz
VP of Strategy & Sustainability

Our Planet

We embrace practices such as recycling, reusing and repurposing resources, and strive to reduce our reliance on virgin raw materials, when possible. Additionally, we believe that our output – auto parts placed in the hands of those who repair and optimize the performance of millions of cars – has the potential to influence global environmental processes such as climate change.

Energy efficiency is a key focus. We have implemented energy-efficient upgrades such as replacing fluorescent lights with LED bulbs across 27 distribution centers – which is projected to save 2.65 million kWh of energy per year.

Transportation is essential for delivering vital products quickly. To reduce environmental impact, we deployed routing algorithms to minimize miles driven, formalized our engine idling procedure to reduce emissions, and in 2022 we have ordered several dozen new hybrid electric vehicles to add to our fleet.

Shipment packaging choices also can lower environmental impact. We have adopted a new type of air pillow that uses less virgin material, resulting in an annual 25% reduction of raw material usage. In addition, we use paper that is 100% recycled (Forest Stewardship Council® certified) for packaging. Looking forward, our targets include:

Select auto parts intrinsically deliver environmental benefits due to their function. Parts Authority is proud that more than one in four parts we sell helps vehicles increase fuel efficiency or reduce their emissions.

Waste management is a key priority for us. The waste we produce is mainly from packaging materials and from collection services we provide customers for their difficult-to-dispose-of wastes such as used oil and scrap metals. For 2021, our teams delivered the results in the graphic below. Looking forward, our targets include:

Our Supply Chain

At Parts Authority, our supply chain plays an essential role in the success of our business and the satisfaction of our clients. We are aware of the environmental impact of our procurement processes, and are executing a sustainability strategy that touches on the products we distribute, our suppliers’ processes, and ways to make our supply chain even more resilient and sustainable.

Our Sustainable Procurement Policy, now being developed, will set environmental and social goals for our supply chain. In support of this policy, by 2023 we seek to have at least 60% of our top vendors sign our Supplier CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) Code of Conduct.

Remanufactured Parts are those that have some components that get worn down by daily use, even as other components (the “core”) remain undamaged. Remanufacturers salvage cores and rebuild the necessary elements – giving the component new life. We estimate that nearly 1 out of every 10 parts (9%) Parts Authority sells is remanufactured.

Product safety is important to our business. We are proud that out of 800,000 SKUs (Stock Keeping Units) in stock in 2021, we only had 14 voluntary, supplier-initiated recalls. This means that only 0.002% of all parts were recalled in 2021.

Lead-acid battery recycling helps to ensure that lead is handled properly to reduce potential health risks. Parts Authority is an orchestrator of a closed-loop recycling process for these batteries: adding a “core charge” to each battery’s sale price to incentivize customer returns and passing the returned batteries over to manufacturers and distributors, who then transport them to EPA-certified lead recycling smelters. And the cycle goes on.

Sustainable manufacturing seeks to design and create auto parts in ways that facilitate efficient remanufacturing after sufficient part wear has occurred. Such an approach can reduce reliance on virgin materials and thus reduce CO2e impact as compared to traditional manufacturing – which is why Parts Authority is partnering with innovators in this area.

DRIVING TOWARD GREATER SUSTAINABILITY

The automotive aftermarket may be in the company of today’s most resource-efficient industries. Cars are perhaps the only manufactured goods that are sold over and over and over again. The environmental impact of manufacturing a car is significant. Every year that we’re able to keep an existing car on the road we save roughly 4 tons of CO2 equivalent that otherwise would have been generated in manufacturing a new car.

Our People

People at Parts Authority are the very heart of everything we do. That’s why we strive to provide a healthy and enjoyable workplace where they can grow professionally, expand their knowledge and gain a sense of community and shared success.

Our team members receive competitive company benefits (e.g., paid time off, company holidays, medical and life insurance, etc.) and we strive to support their health and safety through our policies and programs. Team members also are offered career development opportunities through our educational portal, a learning management system and the guidance of their supervisors and managers.

Labor Practices

Our labor practices aim to make Parts Authority a great place to work. Some highlights and targets include:

Health and Safety

We have set the following safety goals as part of our overall focus on continuous improvement and team members’ wellbeing:

Diversity and Inclusion

Parts Authority is committed to fostering an inclusive workplace. In 2020, we created our Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Committee and we introduced the role of Manager of Education, Diversity and Inclusion. The Committee helps us tap into the unique life perspectives of our team members and prioritize recognizing, respecting and valuing differences among team members.

We are committed to creating more opportunities for women in the auto parts industry. We plan to offer additional opportunities for women to grow into management roles through learning experiences and support groups. Our 2026 goal, aligned with SDG 5.5, is to reach a gender ratio of 15% in management positions.

Parts Authority administers an anti-harassment training curriculum designed to engage and educate team members across the country. Through this training, team members gain an understanding of discrimination, sexual harassment, bystander intervention, diversity and inclusion. More than 1,000 newly hired team members completed this training during fiscal year 2021 and the first quarter of 2022. We intend to have a majority of team members complete discrimination and harassment training by 2025.

Our Community

True sustainability demands consideration of a broad community of people – whose lives Parts Authority is committed to enhancing through our work. Among those who bring vibrancy to this community are team members, suppliers, customers and local nonprofits who make our towns and cities stronger.

Among our community relationships are those listed below:

University of the Aftermarket Foundation – For more than 35 years, the Foundation has provided funding for aftermarket education programs and research. Its financial support ensures the continued development and distribution of courses in ever-broadening areas.

Women in Auto Care, a community of the Auto Care Association, provides opportunities, education and career leadership to women in the auto care industry through conferences, networking, scholarships, education, data, awards and a curated mentorship program.

The Rivers Edge Ranch (RER) serves adult men who seek to recover from substance abuse. These men – often veterans, parolees or homeless – make a one-year commitment to RER’s multi-phase approach, which integrates manual labor, animal-assisted therapy, service to others, and faith and mentoring support. Parts Authority is a Gold sponsor for RER’s annual fund-raising banquet.

Sports Sponsorships – Parts Authority is proud to support sports and athletics all across the country. We sponsor the New York Islanders hockey team, as well as both the New York Mets (see photo) and the New York Yankees. We also are proud to sponsor touring car driver Sally McNulty who hopes to become the first-ever woman to win a TC America race or overall championship on the circuit.

Representative Company Sponsorships

Across the nation, Parts Authority helps to build vibrant communities by providing financial support and volunteer action. Here are just a few of the organizations we support:

Business Ethics

Being part of a strong community means acting in ways that are ethical and honest. Parts Authority embraces the value of Integrity, which is demonstrated in how we conduct business. We strive to ensure that our business is executed in ways that reflect the highest ethical standards and that reduce the risk of corruption, bribery or other unethical activity.

To formalize existing best practices, we are implementing a Business Ethics and Personal Conduct Policy that covers such topics as bribery, corruption, money laundering, conflicts of interest, and others.

Data Security

Our technology team plans and executes a range of strategies to identify and address data security risks across the enterprise. Parts Authority maintains a written information security program, which encompasses policies, standards, procedures and guidelines.

Our work in pursuing data security encompasses company processes that aim to protect our valued customers’ data from accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorized disclosure or access. Parts Authority had zero data breaches in 2021.

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

In the chart below are the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to which Parts Authority is striving to contribute.

Following each SDG are the related steps Parts Authority intends to take.

SDG 5 on gender equality by increasing our percentage of women employed, increasing female representation in our leadership positions, and improving working conditions for women by providing things such as paid maternity leave.

(5.1 End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere)

Parts Authority intends to:

  • Implement anti-discrimination and anti-harassment training for a majority of team members by 2025.
  • Promptly address any report of discrimination or harassment filed and follow up with appropriate and adequate next steps in a timely manner.

(5.5 Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life)

Parts Authority intends to:

  • Introduce a women’s networking and support group by 2025.
  • By 2026 offer additional learning opportunities to women in the company to help them grow into management roles.

SDG 8 on decent work and economic conditions by improving our overall working conditions and providing employees with fair wages and compensation.

(8.5 By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value)

Parts Authority intends to:

  • Continue to be an equal opportunity employer and assess candidates only based on experience and skills.
  • Prohibit all forms of discrimination and harassment during the recruitment phase and after.

(8.8 Protect labor rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment)

Parts Authority intends to:

  • Reduce team member injury rate by 4% by 2028.
  • Reduce lost time cases rate by 4% by 2028.
  • Improve manager/supervisor safety knowledge to address unsafe conditions or behaviors through additional training.
  • Provide health and safety training to a majority of team members by 2025.

SDG 9 on industry, innovation, and infrastructure by providing more jobs in the manufacturing sector and increasing R&D in the industrial sector.

(9.5 Enhance scientific research, upgrade the technological capabilities of industrial sectors in all countries, in particular developing countries, including, by 2030, encouraging innovation and substantially increasing the number of research and development workers per 1 million people and public and private research and development spending)

Parts Authority intends to:

  • Offer training to team members to develop their sector knowledge and their work-related skills.

SDG 11 on sustainable cities and communities by monitoring the products we sell, as we contribute to cleaner air and more sustainable urban life.

(11.6 By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management)

Parts Authority intends to:

  • Comply with applicable laws and regulations concerning the environment.
  • Tracking the amount of waste produced in order to set reduction targets for facilities by 2025.
  • Implement a formal, nationwide recycling program concerning paper and cardboard by 2025.

SDG 12 on sustainable consumption and production patterns by improving the quality of our products and making them last longer, thereby reducing the total global material footprint.

12.5 By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse)

Parts Authority intends to:

  • Tracking the amount of waste produced in order to set reduction targets for facilities by 2025.
  • Implement a formal, nationwide recycling program concerning paper and card- board by 2025.
  • Ensure a majority of our packaging is FSC certified by 2025.
  • Reach 20% of recycled-plastic packaging by 2025.
  • Contribute to repairs of an estimated 10 million vehicles each year to extend their lifetimes.

(12.6 Encourage companies, especially large and transnational companies, to adopt sustainable practices and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle)

Parts Authority intends to:

  • Participated in CDP private markets pilot to help establish benchmark for private companies looking to assess climate-specific risks and opportunities.
  • Calculate and report on our Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2024.