Walmart today released its seventh annual Global
Responsibility Report, entitled “So Many Opportunities to Make a
Difference.” The report outlines key accomplishments in the areas of
social and environmental responsibility, specifically highlighting
Walmart’s top achievements in fiscal year 2014 to help provide
sustainable solutions for people and the planet.
“We have made significant progress across the entire chain, and have
exceeded several goals we put in place to reduce our environmental
impact and strengthen the communities where we live and work,” said
Kathleen McLaughlin, senior vice president of sustainability and
president of the Walmart Foundation. “We take our responsibility to
create innovative solutions to key environmental and social challenges
seriously, and we believe this will provide opportunities for our
communities, customers and associates. Doing business the right way is
of the utmost importance, and you can expect to see Walmart continuing
to lead in areas that are crucial for our customers, our planet and
people worldwide.”
Among the accomplishments reported in the Global Responsibility Report
are the following:
Sustaining the Planet through Clean and
Efficient Use of Energy
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Accelerated Global Transition to Renewable Energy: Walmart
continues to make progress toward its goal of scaling renewables by
producing or procuring seven
billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of renewable energy by 2020 – an
effort that the company believes will foster innovation in renewables
and lower costs for everyone. At the end of 2013, Walmart had more
than 323 renewable energy projects in operation or under development
globally, providing its facilities with more than 2.2 billion kWh of
renewable electricity annually and accounting for 32 percent of the
2020 target. Together with renewable electricity from the grid, more
than 24 percent of global electricity needs are supplied by renewable
sources.
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Improved Energy Efficiency: Walmart is well on its way to meet
the goal of reducing total energy intensity per square foot of all
facilities 20 percent by 2020, with seven percent less energy per
square foot at the end of 2013 compared to 2010. To do so, it has expanded
its use of LED lighting, and in 2013, opened its first 100-percent
LED supercenter in Ohio, which consumes 34 percent less energy than a
conventional store. In addition, new supercenters in the United
States, and stores in Asia, Latin America and the United Kingdom, will
employ energy-efficient LED ceiling lighting fixtures, which will use
40 percent less energy than lighting sources historically used in
stores.
Providing Resources for People
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Exceeded Hunger Relief Goals: Since announcing the Fighting
Hunger Together commitment in 2010 to donate 1.1 billion pounds of
food and $250 million in cash by 2015, Walmart and Sam’s Club
facilities have surpassed both goals one year earlier than projected.
Walmart has exceeded $2 billion of cash and in-kind commitments to
fight hunger at the local, state and national levels. As of January
2014, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation have donated 1.58 billion
pounds of food, the equivalent of approximately 1.32 billion meals,
and have awarded $260 million in grants to hunger relief programs in
the United States, exceeding their original commitment by four percent.
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Creating Opportunities by Empowering Women in Local Communities:
Walmart is focused on supporting local communities across the globe by
opening access to resources that create job opportunities, training
and economic self-sufficiency for women. The
Global Women’s Economic Empowerment Initiative provides a
commitment to source $20 billion from women-owned businesses for our
U.S. business through 2016 and double sourcing from
women-owned-businesses for international markets by the end of 2016.
Walmart has also committed to train nearly one million women on farms
and in the workforce through 2016, and by the end of 2013 had
contributed to training more than 283,000 women. Additionally, in
September 2013, along with other corporate and nonprofit
organizations, Walmart signed a pledge to train 15,000 women business
owners and source $1.5 billion from women-owned-businesses outside the
United States by 2018.
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Hiring U.S. Military Veterans: In May 2013, Walmart
committed to hire more than 100,000 honorably discharged veterans
in the U.S. business over the next five years, many within their first
12 months off active duty. Within the first eight months of this
pledge, Walmart hired more than 32,000 veterans across its stores and
clubs in the United States, distribution centers, and at the home
office in Bentonville.
Producing More with Less and Eliminating Waste
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Reduced Waste: Since Walmart set the goal
to achieve zero waste to landfill in operations by 2025, it has
aggressively worked to address waste in operations, products and
packaging. This means identifying the best opportunities to reuse or
recycle materials and to prevent materials from entering the
recycling, reuse or waste stream initially. Today, Walmart diverts
81.66 percent of the materials that flow through stores, clubs,
distribution centers and other facilities in the United States; and
total waste generated from U.S. operations has decreased by 3.3
percent, compared to the 2010 baseline.
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Invested in Producing More Food with Fewer Resources: As the
world’s largest grocer, Walmart has the responsibility to contribute
to producing enough food to meet global demands, while reducing
environmental impact. In 2013, Walmart invested in programs and
initiatives that take a close look at how to sufficiently feed a
growing planet with fewer resources, including optimizing fertilizer
use across food commodities and phasing sustainably sourced palm oil
into its private brands.
“A chief pillar of the Walmart business is working to continuously
improve the sustainability of the products we sell,” said Manuel Gómez
Peña, vice president of sustainability at Walmart. “Over the course of
2013, we continued to drive innovation and accelerated toward our goals,
both in our operation and in our product supply chain. These strides
continue to support Walmart’s everyday low prices and help set
sustainability standards for the retail industry.”
FYE14 Giving Totals
During the last fiscal year Walmart and the Walmart
Foundation gave more than $1.3 billion of cash and in-kind
contributions, including efforts to fight hunger, provide healthier
foods and advance sustainability practices. This marks the largest level
of giving in Walmart’s history, and the overall increase in giving
surpasses the previous year’s total by more than $244 million. Global
in-kind donations accounted for $1 billion, while $316.3 million was
given in cash globally.
For more information, read the 2014 Global Responsibility Report and
visit The
Walmart Blog for updates on sustainability at Walmart.
About Walmart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) helps people around the world save
money and live better – anytime and anywhere – in retail stores, online,
and through their mobile devices. Each week, more than 250 million
customers and members visit our 10,984 stores under 71 banners in 27
countries and e-commerce websites in 10 countries. With fiscal year 2014
sales of over $473 billion, Walmart employs more than 2.2 million
associates worldwide. Walmart continues to be a leader in
sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity.
Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting http://corporate.walmart.com,
on Facebook at http://facebook.com/walmart
and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/walmart.
Online merchandise sales are available at http://www.walmart.com
and http://www.samsclub.com.
Copyright Business Wire 2014