New Investigation Links Home Depot PVC Packaging to Formosa Plastics' Carcinogenic Pollution in Louisiana and Texas Communities
Frontline leaders call on The Home Depot to protect health and phase out toxic PVC plastic as Climate Week approaches
POINT COMFORT, TX – A new investigation released today traces PVC plastic packaging used for products sold at The Home Depot to chemical production facilities in Louisiana and Texas that release toxic chemicals, including vinyl chloride, a known human carcinogen.
The interactive “StoryMap,” released by members of the Stop Formosa Plastics Coalition, follows the supply chain behind PVC packaging used for products sold at The Home Depot, connecting packaging of products on store shelves to chemicals produced by Formosa Plastics in Gulf Coast communities already burdened by industrial pollution.
Alongside the investigation, frontline community leaders and advocate sent a letter to The Home Depot CEO Ted Decker calling on the company to phase out PVC in brand-name packaging and products sold in its stores.
“For years, I have purchased products packaged in or made from PVC plastic from The Home Depot, not realizing the harm PVC causes to communities in my home state of Louisiana,” said Sharon Lavigne, Founder and Director of RISE St. James Louisiana. “This investigation traces products packaged in PVC sold at The Home Depot back to Formosa Plastics, which manufactures PVC chemicals and has released carcinogenic vinyl chloride at its Baton Rouge facility. Communities in Louisiana have lived with this toxic pollution for far too long. It’s time for The Home Depot to stop contributing to this environmental injustice and move toward safer alternatives that protect communities and consumers.”
The investigation also documents the climate impacts of PVC production. It comes just days before Climate Week NYC, when companies from around the world will gather to highlight their climate and sustainability commitments.
“For over 30 years, I have worked with workers exposed to PVC powder in the Formosa Plastic facility in Texas and with fishermen working in the Matagorda Bay system,” said Diane Wilson, Executive Director, San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper. “I know one thing: the fight to protect these workers and communities is the same fight to protect consumers who buy products packaged by PVC plastic at The Home Depot. Formosa Plastic should stop making it and The Home Depot should stop selling it!”
The investigation builds on research published last year by Toxic-Free Future, revealing that many popular brand-name products sold at The Home Depot, including power tools from Milwaukee and Ryobi, are packaged in PVC plastic. Together, the findings show how PVC packaging found on store shelves connects to a broader supply chain of toxic chemical production and pollution.
“For years, I have worked with communities affected by Formosa Plastics in Vietnam, Taiwan, Texas, and Louisiana, and one lesson is clear: the consequences of PVC production do not stop at a factory fence or a national border,” said Nancy Bui, Co-Founder of the International Monitor Formosa Plastics Alliance, and Founder of Justice for Formosa’s Victims. “Consumers may see only a plastic package on a store shelf, but behind that package is a global supply chain with real consequences for workers, families, and communities. The Home Depot has the power to influence that supply chain, and it should use that power to move away from PVC and toward safer alternatives.”
The Home Depot is facing growing pressure from consumers, environmental justice organizations, and investors to match its sustainability commitments with action on PVC. More than 50 public health and environmental justice organizations have also urged CEO Ted Decker to phase out PVC in packaging and products. At the company’s 2026 Annual General Meeting, investors voted on two shareholder proposals addressing plastic pollution, including one that received 17.4% of the vote, representing roughly $39 billion in shares.
Now, frontline communities that bear the health and environmental costs of PVC plastic production are calling on The Home Depot to work with suppliers to restrict PVC in brand-name packaging and products sold on its store shelves. The calls for action come as states like New York and Washington are considering policies to ban PVC in packaging.
The Home Depot has already demonstrated that it can drive major chemical and plastics reforms across its supply chain. The company has phased out phthalates in flooring, eliminated methylene chloride and NMP in paint removers, restricted PFAS in carpets and rugs, and phased PVC out of its private-label packaging.
Advocates say the company should now build on that progress by extending its PVC packaging phaseout beyond its private-label brands to the brand-name products sold on its shelves.
Material Research, a research organization that exposes harmful industrial activities worldwide, created the “StoryMap” on behalf of the Stop Formosa Plastics Coalition.
About the Stop Formosa Plastics Coalition
Founded by activist Nancy Bui, and Goldman Environmental Prize winners Sharon Lavigne and Diane Wilson, StopFormosaPlastics is a coalition of environmental justice groups working to stop Formosa Plastics Group’s harmful petrochemical expansion in Louisiana while holding the conglomerate accountable for environmental harms in Vietnam and in Texas.
MEDIA CONTACT: Dan Lê, dan@sanantoniobaywaterkeeper.org
