February 2008

Wal-Mart's packaging scorecard goes into effect

As of February 1st, Wal-Mart will officially begin using its new packaging scorecard. The scorecard is used to rate products based on their carbon footprint, and analyzes such metrics as greenhouse gasses emitted during manufacture and transport, ratio of packaging to product, recycling content usage and space utilization. Shoppers at all Wal-Mart and Sam's Club outlets will be able to use the scorecard to assess the environmental impact of their purchasing decisions.

At press time, over 97,000 products had been entered into the scorecard database by 6,371 vendors. While this number is only a small portion of the total number of products carried by Wal-Mart and Sam's Club, the company plans to keep evaluating new and current products as quickly as possible, with a goal of reducing packaging in their supply chain by five percent by 2013.

Already, some companies are working to adjust their product packaging, in the hope of earning a more favorable rating. General Mills (Golden Valley, Minnesota) recently shrunk its Hamburger Helper box by 20 percent and began shipping items in cases using 25-percent less cardboard. As a result, the company reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 11 percent.

The move comes as part of a larger environmental strategy by the retailer. In his recent "Company of the Future" address to Wal-Mart store managers in Kansas City, Chief Executive Officer Lee Scott outlined his vision for the future of the company, which included improved health care, energy efficiency and ethical sourcing.

Amy Zettlemoyer-Lazar, director of sustainable packaging for Wal-Mart, will cover this topic in more depth at the Plastics Recycling 2008 Conference in Jacksonville, Florida.