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Wal-Mart Expands Sustainability Efforts With Coffee, Trucks
BERKELEY, Calif. -- Along
with its visionary goals of reaching zero waste and using 100 percent
renewable energy, Wal-Mart is launching or planning a number of smaller
sustainability initiatives, from the trucks it ships products in to the
coffee on its shelves.
Matt Kistler, Wal-Mart's senior vice president for sustainability,
spoke at University of California-Berkeley's Haas School of Business
yesterday about the past and future of Wal-Mart's environmental
initiatives.
In late 2005 the company unveiled its goals of reaching zero waste,
using only renewable energy and selling products that sustain resources
and the environment. "Today we do not have clear-cut direction of how
we're going to attain every goal," Kistler said. As of example of how
it's approaching renewable energy, Wal-Mart is planning 22 different
solar projects to see which work best.
Some of its recent and coming programs are with its fleet. Although
the company is planning to start rolling out hybrid trucks this month,
it's already made its fleet 20 percent more efficient than in 2005 by
designing aerodynamic trucks and using auxiliary power units that turn
off the engine but not the heating, cooling and lights.
To sell more earth-friendly products, Wal-Mart is introducing a
line of environmentally friendly coffee this month. Under its private
label Sam's Choice brand, the company now offers three Fair Trade
Certified coffees, one Rainforest Alliance certified blend and one USDA
Organic coffee. The coffees are roasted by Cafe Bom Dia, a Brazil-based
company that offsets its emissions through CarbonNeutral.
The sustainable coffee rollout is part of the company's Earth Month
promotion. Throughout April Wal-Mart is highlighting its greener
products and informing customers how making better choices, especially
on a large scale, can cause a difference. Wal-Mart is featuring more
than 50 products in stores and 500 online, from transitional cotton shirts to mulch made from rubber to Clorox Green Works products.
The majority of Wal-Mart's environmental footprint, Kistler said,
comes from suppliers. The company has direct control on about 8 percent
of its footprint, with the remaining 92 percent coming from its supply
chain. To green its supply chain the company launched a packaging
scorecard last year. By filling in information about products'
packaging, suppliers are rated and find out their rank in relation to
peers. Kistler said Wal-Mart works with suppliers, telling them what
they can do to improve and let them know what other suppliers have done
to reduce packaging.
Wal-Mart launched the packaging push as part of its goal to reduce
packaging by 5 percent by 2013. Although suppliers were supposed to
provide packaging information on all products by the end of February,
Wal-Mart has only received information for about half of its products
so far, according to the Arkansas Morning News.
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Matt KIstler and Wal-Mart bag policy
To: Mr. Matt Kister
Senior Vice-President for Sustainability
Dear Mr. Kistler,
I draw your attention to the article from Reuters (below) in which you are quoted.
"If we can encourage consumers to change their behavior, just one bag at a time, we believe real progress can be made toward our goal of creating zero waste," said Matt Kistler, senior vice president for sustainability at Wal-Mart. (more of the article is below)
This morning I shopped at my local Wal-Mart to purchase two small humidifier replacement filters. After paying, I told the sales associate I did not need a bag.
I was very surprised to learn that Wal-Mart requires that I use a bag to take my items out of the store.
That seems to contradict your "one bag at a time" comment, doesn't it? You and I share the same environmental concerns, though I'm not sure your company practices what you say in public.
So, is this really a policy at Wal-Mart? If so, how do you reconcile this policy with your public quote?
Many thanks,
Patrick Reynolds
Miamisburg, Ohio
REUTERS ARTICLE:
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc will give out fewer plastic shopping bags, and encourage shoppers to reuse and recycle them, as the retailer aims to slash its plastic bag waste by a third worldwide by 2013.
The plan is expected to cut the equivalent of 9 billion plastic bags from stores each year, and eliminate more than 135 million pounds of plastic waste globally in the next five years.
The world's largest retailer said on Thursday it aims to reduce plastic bag waste by 25 percent in its U.S. stores and 50 percent in other countries.
"If we can encourage consumers to change their behavior, just one bag at a time, we believe real progress can be made toward our goal of creating zero waste," said Matt Kistler, senior vice president for sustainability at Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart's U.S. stores will begin selling a new 50-cent reusable bag in October, and its baggers will be trained to pack bags more efficiently. Earlier this month, its Mexico stores introduced reusable bags that cost one-third less than the previous ones.
The move comes amid a global push to curb the use of plastic bags, which environmentalists say can take up to 1,000 years to disintegrate and pose threats to marine life, birds and other animals.
(Additional reporting by Nichola Groom in Los Angeles; editing by Gunna Dickson, Richard Chang)
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