The policy will put pressure on food manufacturers to ensure their packaging meets the requirements or else face being cut out of the Wal-Mart supply chain. Wal-Mart's goal is to reduce packaging on its products by 5 per cent by 2013.
Mario Pilozzi, chief executive officer of Wal-Mart Canada, said suppliers to Wal-Mart will be required to complete a survey that aims to determine the environmental footprint as well as recycled content of packaging, with those failing to show progress losing shelf space in supermarkets.
"Packaging sustainability will be a formal part of our purchasing decisions," he told representatives from about 200 suppliers at gathered at a sustainable packaging exposition, Toronto.
The session was arranged by Wal-Mart to inform suppliers about a "packaging scorecard" soon to be implemented. The event was also an opportunity for suppliers to meet with about 65 packaging companies, exhibiting renewable raw materials and sustainable package designs.
The ratings scorecard, which was officially unveiled in September 2006 and launched on February 1, evaluates Wal-Mart and Sam's Club suppliers on the sustainability of their packaging and offers suggestions for improvement.
The scorecard evaluates the sustainability of product packaging based on a number of factors.
These are greenhouse gas emissions related to production, material value, product to packaging ratio, cube utilization, recycled content usage, innovation, the amount of renewable energy used to manufacture the packaging, the recovery value of the raw materials and emissions related to transportation of the packaging materials.
The criteria allow suppliers to determine how their packaging innovations, environmental standards, energy efficiencies and use of materials compare to others in the same product category areas.
Suppliers will receive a score per package relative to their peers in each category.
The creation of the packaging rating system is a significant part of the bid by the retailer to become more environmentally-friendly and meet the demands of its customers.
Guy McGuffin, vice-president Wal-Mart Canada, said the goal is not to eliminate packaging, but to reduce it without compromising the safety and integrity of the products it contains.
"Even small changes can have an immense impact, not just for the environment, but for our business," he said prior to the exposition. "When we use less packaging, we spend less on materials, ship less weight, and require less space in our stores. At the same time, fewer trees are cut, less energy-intensive production occurs, and less waste is produced. There's great alignment between environmental and business sustainability."
The company has led the way in attempting to reduce packaging and packaging waste in recent years and in one year has reduced the use of cardboard by 3,450 tons, PVC plastic by 600 tons, while saving 300,000 liters of fuel. Related cost savings amounted to $3 million, according to Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart has set a global goal of ultimately producing zero waste, using only energy from renewable sources and to stock more environmentally preferable products available to customers.
Wal-Mart Canada, with headquarters in Ontario, operates a network of 290 outlets.
