Health Care Service Corporation's sustainability initiatives have earned global recognition for generating positive impact on the environment and are empowering employees to advance the effort.
HCSC has taken steps over the past several years to better understand and reduce its water, food and landfill waste, expand its urban beekeeping project, and achieve LEED certification across its headquarter buildings, among other initiatives. The company’s work on these issues was recently assessed and recognized by a top independent, international environmental organization.
The nonprofit, known as CDP, awarded HCSC with a “B” grade. The rating indicates the company has demonstrated “action and processes to manage environmental issues” and “is moving from understanding to implementation.”
“We’re taking a disciplined, data‑driven approach to reducing waste and improving efficiency across our buildings,” says HCSC Senior Director of Facility Operations and Sustainability Julie Ford. “But the real strength behind our sustainability progress is our people and their collaboration and daily commitment to turn strategy into meaningful results. It demonstrates HCSC’s dedication to improving our environment and community health for our customers and staff in tangible, lasting ways.”
CDP evaluates companies on the transparency and quality of data disclosed on environmental issues and sustainability, and how that information is used to understand risk, manage impact and implement best practices. Criteria for scoring changes yearly, and grades range from A to D-, reflecting the ambition, target-setting and action taken.
Reducing waste
In 2024, HCSC conducted waste audits at its five health plan headquarters and found opportunities to reduce waste buildup and boost recycling rates. Since then, the company has been implementing changes across the organization.
In Montana, for example, back of house composting goes directly to two employees with off-site farms where it’s used to feed animals and support gardens. The headquarters for HCSC’s Tulsa division is contracted with a waste hauler that converts methane emissions from its landfill into electricity that powers 25,000 homes in Osage County.
And one year ago, all HCSC cafés started replacing single-use plastics such as utensils and beverage bottles with recyclable or compostable alternatives. Last year alone, HCSC composted more than 230,000 pounds of food waste across cafes and has kept over 4 million plastic bottles from going into landfills over the past four years. The organization has also focused on reducing its water waste.
Overconsumption and other factors can cause low water levels, leading to high concentrations of pollution and, ultimately, help contribute to negative health outcomes.
Interviews with personnel and walk-through audits at HCSC’s Texas health plan headquarters in Richardson led to upgrades that include high-efficiency faucets and toilets and reduced watering on parts of the property’s landscaping. And in Illinois, a new water softening system is improving water use efficiency and saving more than 1.7 million gallons each year.
Further audits across Texas and Oklahoma sites revealed potential savings of up to 760,000 gallons annually after upgrades are implemented.
Biodiversity
To better educate employees about the ecosystem and understand its environmental impact, HCSC now operates urban beekeeping programs in all five of its health plan states.
Each hive houses at least 50,000 docile honeybees, which are strategically located to keep both bees and employees safe and educate employees about the insects’ outsized influence on the ecosystem. In total, HCSC has 12 honeybee hives with approximately 600,000 bees.
The program first kicked off in 2019 at HCSC’s Chicago headquarters, and primarily contracts with Alveole — a company that helps businesses, schools and other organizations bring bees to their buildings — to maintain the hives.
Healthy buildings
HCSC has also worked hard to minimize the environmental impact of its physical footprint, achieving LEED certifications at 4 of 5 health plan headquarter buildings. The organization’s WELL at scale score — which measures healthy building initiatives and employee health and well-being — also increased by 10 points.
These initiatives help bring awareness to employees about sustainability environmentalism, which translated to employees logging 1,495 volunteer hours in 2025 for environment-related activities.
“We’re always working hard to improve in ways that are and are not measurable, and this is the beginning of our sustainability journey,” says Amy Amaon, HCSC’s sustainability manager. “We have many exciting initiatives coming down the pipeline to raise awareness and help employees and communities connect to our mission.”