3M Company
MMM
Industrials
7
exclusion reasons
5 themes
This page is part of our public exclusion list — a transparency tool that shows which companies we screen out and why. It is not investment advice, and it is not an accusation. But it is subject to change as our understanding of the facts evolves.
3M Company has a documented pattern of suppressing worker organizing, including union-busting campaigns and retaliatory firings of organizers. This record requires specific, recent evidence to detail the scope and nature of these activities. As of this writing, no such evidence has been gathered from primary sources like NLRB case files, union communications, or investigative reports. The exclusion is based on a prior ECIC assessment, but the current narrative cannot be substantiated without a contemporary evidence review.
Products and solutions for the fossil fuel industry; dedicated '3M Products for Fossil Fuels' web section.
3M has a documented pattern of using improper payments to foreign officials to secure business, culminating in a 2023 enforcement action by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company agreed to pay more than $6.5 million to settle charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The SEC order detailed that a 3M subsidiary in China arranged improper payments to Chinese government officials, disguising them as travel, conferences, and study tours, to obtain business from state-owned healthcare enterprises. These payments were improperly recorded in the company’s books and records.
While 3M maintains a public Code of Conduct and a Lobbying and Political Activities Principle, the FCPA settlement demonstrates a failure of internal controls. The company’s own PAC is active in political contributions, and its governance documents emphasize compliance with lobbying laws. However, the 2023 settlement reveals a gap between policy and practice, showing the company’s engagement in activities designed to improperly influence officials to shield or advance its business interests.
3M has been identified as a purchaser of goods produced through prison labor programs. According to a 2022 report from the advocacy group Worth Rises, state correctional industries sold goods and services to nearly a thousand private companies, including 3M Company. This supply chain relationship directly connects 3M’s operations to the carceral labor system.
The company’s connection to the private prison industry is also evidenced in SEC filings from major private prison operator GEO Group, which lists 3M Company among its competitors for contracts with privately operated criminal detention facilities. Furthermore, 3M subsidiary Pro-Tech is named in the same competitive context, indicating a business segment engaged with correctional and detention services.
EPA / EWG — 3M Company (MMM); Manufactured and disposed of PFAS chemicals for decades, contaminating drinking water for an estimated 110–172 million Americans; 9,552 known contaminated sites in 50 states; Settled $10.3B–$12.5B with US public water systems, payments 2024–2036; contamination ongoing and irreversible
3M agreed to pay $10.3–12.5B to settle claims from US public water systems over PFAS contamination. 3M manufactured PFAS chemicals for decades — used in firefighting foam (AFFF) and consumer products — contaminating drinking water for millions of Americans. Separate EPA RCRA settlement: $125,900 civil penalty for hazardous waste storage violations at Cordova, IL facility (Oct 2024).
EPA RCRA $125K penalty at Cordova, IL facility for hazardous waste violations (2024); pattern of improper storage and disposal of PFAS-contaminated manufacturing waste across multiple 3M production sites; RCRA hazardous waste liability compounds the $10.3B–$12.5B PFAS public water systems settlement; 3M manufactured PFAS for 70+ years creating legacy hazardous waste obligations at former and active manufacturing sites
Research Sources
15 organizations
Related Exclusions
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A digest of changes to our exclusion list — new additions, removals, and the evidence behind them. We review the list continuously as new evidence surfaces.
Companies appear on our exclusion list based on our investment judgment — not because they've done anything illegal. This is a difference of values and opinion, not an accusation of wrongdoing. Exclusion does not constitute a recommendation against investing in any company, and absence from the list does not constitute a recommendation to invest.
This information is provided for educational and transparency purposes only and should not be relied upon as investment advice. Data is drawn from independent watchdogs, NGOs, government registries, and Ethical Capital's ongoing research — see Research Sources for the full list.
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