Walmart Canada has launched a packaging feedback program in its effort to reduce product packaging by 5 percent by 2013.
The 312-store chain has a new
online feedback form asking customers to report packaging they feel is wasteful, excessive or uses inappropriate or unrecyclable materials.
Walmart Canada will pass along the feedback directly to product suppliers and manufacturers. The company estimates that only 8 percent of its environmental impacts are directly tied to its own operations, and the remaining 92 percent is related to products and packaging.
"No matter what the issue, the best truth-test for any retailer or product supplier is customer feedback," said David Cheesewright, Walmart Canada's CEO and president. "We have set ambitious sustainability goals for our company, we have established new standards with our suppliers, but our customers will ultimately determine how far is far enough."
The company is also introducing a packaging scorecard like the one being used by Walmart's U.S. operations to assess packaging and weed out wasteful practices.
A similar packaging feedback program was recently launched by
Amazon, which
also asks how well packaging protects products, if it's the right size and if it was made with appropriate materials.
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