Walmart today joined forces with CEOs from more than a dozen global
companies to sign new commitments
that accelerate innovation in sustainable agriculture and recycling. The
pledges kicked off Walmart’s inaugural Sustainable Product Expo, a
three-day collaboration to expand the availability of products that
sustain people and the environment. Together, the participating
suppliers represent more than $100 billion in sales at Walmart.
Eight of the largest food companies announced pledges to help ensure
that tomorrow’s food supply is affordable and sustainable for the nine
billion people projected to inhabit the planet by 2050. The commitments
aim to drive more collaboration and efficiency across the current food
system. In total, this work is expected to bring eight million acres of
farmland into sustainable agriculture programs and eliminate six million
metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs).
Additionally, companies joined with Walmart and the Walmart Foundation
in announcing plans to launch a groundbreaking recycling initiative
called the Closed Loop Fund, with the goal of making recycling available
to all Americans. The Fund aims to invest $100 million in recycling
infrastructure projects and spur private and public funding for
transforming the recycling system in the United States.
“Walmart and our suppliers recognize that collaboration is the key to
bringing sustainable solutions to all of our customers,” said Doug
McMillon, president and chief executive officer of Walmart Stores, Inc.
“A great deal of innovative work is happening every day, but there are
still too many gaps and missed opportunities. Today’s commitments are
about creating real systems change from one end of the supply chain to
the other — meaning how products are grown and made, how they’re
transported and sold, and how we touch the lives of people along the
way.”
Leaders joining McMillon and Walmart executives in Bentonville, included:
-
John Bryant, CEO and president, Kellogg Company;
-
Rob Gehring, global account leader, The Coca-Cola Company;
-
Hugh Grant, chairman and CEO, Monsanto;
-
Fred Krupp, president, Environmental Defense Fund;
-
Kees Kruythoff, president, North America for Unilever;
-
A.G. Lafley, chairman of the board, president, and CEO, Procter &
Gamble;
-
Roberto Marques, company group chairman, Johnson & Johnson Consumer
Family of Companies, North America;
-
Denise Morrison, president and CEO, Campbell Soup Company;
-
Indra Nooyi, chairman and CEO, PepsiCo;
-
Monique Oxender, senior director, sustainability, Keurig Green
Mountain, Inc.;
-
Greg Page, executive chairman of the board, Cargill;
-
Ken Powell, chairman and CEO, General Mills;
-
Carter Roberts, president and CEO, World Wildlife Fund;
-
Peter Seligmann, chairman, CEO and co-founder, Conservation
International;
-
Rick Smith, president and CEO, Dairy Farmers of America;
-
John Weinberg, vice chairman and co-head of the Investment Banking
Division, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
Accelerating Results
The Expo highlighted several initiatives to further expand access to
sustainable products and create more transparency in the supply chain:
-
Together with Procter & Gamble, Walmart announced a commitment to a 25
percent reduction in water per dose for all liquid laundry detergent.
-
In the area of fertilizer management, Walmart last year set a goal of
optimizing 14 million acres of farmland with the potential to reduce
seven million metric tons of GHGs. Combined with progress already
made, the new pledges announced today will help advance that goal by
optimizing an estimated 10 million acres and eliminating 8.5 million
metric tons of GHGs.
-
Working with Cargill, Walmart is developing a small-scale pilot
focused on improved beef supply chain visibility, including increased
traceability elements resulting in more visibility from farm to fork.
This is part of Walmart’s goal to source 15 percent of its beef supply
with environmental criteria by 2023.
-
In collaboration with Conservation International and suppliers,
Walmart has converted 27 percent of the palm oil used in its
private-brand products from conventional to sustainable palm oil.
The Expo also included updates from EPA experts on sustainable chemistry
and presentations by McKinsey and EDF on new tools suppliers can use to
scale factory energy efficiency.
Sustainability for All
Walmart also previewed plans to create a sustainability store on
walmart.com. The shopping portal, expected to launch by the end of
2014, will allow customers to easily identify brands that are leading
sustainability within a category via a special icon.
Walmart shoppers expect everyday low prices, but sustainability concerns
are also important, according to a recent survey by Walmart’s Global
Customer Insights and Analytics group. The survey found that 96 percent
of Walmart shoppers indicated they have purchased sustainable products
in the past year.
“No one should have to choose between products that are sustainable and
products they can afford,” said Manuel Gomez, vice president of
sustainability for Walmart. “We want to make sustainability easy by
taking the guesswork out of values-based shopping. Accessibility and
transparency really put the customer in the driver’s seat.”
This new online tool for customers and other initiatives to drive
sustainability across the supply chain are based on metrics from the Sustainability
Index. Since 2009, Walmart and many suppliers, stakeholders and
competitors have worked with The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) to
develop measurement and reporting systems for product sustainability,
including the Index. The tools from TSC offer Walmart a common way to
evaluate supplier performance and drive innovation. More than 700
product categories are now covered by the Index.
For more information on the Sustainable Product Expo, and to view the
webcast replay of event highlights, please visit: http://news.walmart.com/events/sustainability-product-expo-2014.
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 245 million
customers and members visit our 11,302 stores under 71 banners in 27
countries and ecommerce websites in 10 countries. With fiscal year 2014
sales of over $473 billion, Walmart employs more than 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