Forget rolling back prices. Wal-Mart Stores wants to roll back the amount of packaging that moves through its vast distribution network every year. The giant retailer called on more than 150 companies to develop a mammoth Sustainable Value Network, which includes initiatives for recycling and product packaging.
“Importantly, Wal-Mart wants to know details like how much fossil fuel energy and nonrenewable resources are invested in each material and whether there are alternatives based on renewables,” said Scott Seydel, chairman of Global Green USA, a national environmental action group who assisted the retailer in developing the program.
The math shows that a mere 5% reduction in product packaging will produce supercenter-sized savings for the retailer — more than $3 billion a year in various costs. Besides shrinking the amount of material itself, the initiative will take an estimated 213,000 trucks off the road, eliminate 667,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and save nearly 324,000 tons of coal and 66 million gallons of diesel fuel.
“This movement is exciting and is gaining momentum thanks to the business and organization partnerships addressing the ‘materials flow value chain,'” said Seydel, whose own company, Seydel Cos., recycles a large amount of waste to invent new products. “We are at the cusp of one of the greatest leaps forward in resource conservation our country has witnessed.”
Earlier this month, Wal-Mart announced it would begin using a “sustainable scorecard” to rate vendors on their ability to improve packaging and conserve resources. Those who take steps to meet Wal-Mart's goal will move up on the preferred supplier list, while those who do not risk losing the chain's business.
First to get graded will be Wal-Mart's 2,000 private-label suppliers, though all of the chain's vendors around the globe will have to weigh in with their efforts by February 2008, according to officials. The program even goes one step further. Manufacturers of packaging materials can also submit data pertaining to their packaging options. A special website will direct suppliers to those with the most innovative materials.
