From 2008, Wal-Mart is to measure its 60,000 worldwide suppliers on their ability to develop packaging and conserve natural resources. This initiative is projected to reduce the company’s overall packaging by five per cent – saving it $3.4 billion – as well as preventing millions of pounds of waste from reaching landfills, and 667,000t of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.
It will also create $10.98 billion in savings, just from a five per cent reduction in 10 per cent of the global packaging industry, according to Wal-Mart.
“Packaging is where consumers and suppliers come together and can have a real impact both on business efficiency and environmental stewardship,” says Wal-Mart ceo H Lee Scott. “Even small changes to packaging have a significant ripple effect. Improved packaging means less waste, fewer materials used, and savings on transportation, manufacturing, shipping and storage. When you bring the capabilities of the entire supply chain together, the ability to make a difference really pops. There’s a multiplier effect. Instead of just looking at what Wal-Mart can do alone, we have the opportunity to inspire thousands of companies and millions of customers, as well.”
On November 1, 2006, the company will introduce a ‘packaging scorecard’ to more than 2,000 private label suppliers. It says this will allow Wal-Mart buyers “to have all the information about packaging alternatives or more sustainable packaging materials in one place, allowing them to make better purchasing decisions”.
On February 1, 2007, tools and processes will be made available to all of the company’s global suppliers. For 12 months, these suppliers will learn and share results within this process. Beginning in 2008, Wal-Mart “will measure and recognize the entire worldwide supply base for using less packaging, utilizing more effective materials in packaging, and sourcing these materials more efficiently through a packaging scorecard”.
Last year, the company partnered with suppliers to improve packaging on its private label Kid Connection toy line. By reducing the packaging on fewer than 300 toys, it saved 3,425t of corrugated materials, 1,358 barrels of oil, 5,190 trees, 727 shipping containers and $3.5M in transportation costs, in just one year. Now the company is taking what it learned from Kid Connection and applying it to the more than 160,000 products seen globally by 176M customers each week.
The Wal-Mart Sustainable Packaging Value Network, a group of 200 leading global packaging companies, is leading the project. This group includes representatives from government, NGOs, academia and industry.
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