Walmart Sends Out a Green Shockwave

Over the past 20 years, we've seen a largely bottom-up approach to environmental issues. All of that changed on July 16th, 2009, when Walmart announced a new strategy aimed at "greening" its supply chain. Walmart will provide each of its 100,000 global suppliers with a survey of 15 questions to evaluate their own company's sustainability:

Energy and Climate: Reducing Energy Costs and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

1. Have you measured your corporate greenhouse gas emissions?


2. Have you opted to report your greenhouse gas emissions to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)?


3. What is your total annual greenhouse gas emissions reported in the most recent year measured?


4. Have you set publicly available greenhouse gas reduction targets? If yes, what are those targets?

Material Efficiency: Reducing Waste and Enhancing Quality

1. If measured, please report the total amount of solid waste generated from the facilities that produce your product(s) for Walmart for the most recent year measured.


2. Have you set publicly available solid waste reduction targets? If yes, what are those targets?


3. If measured, please report total water use from facilities that produce your product(s) for Walmart for the most recent year measured.


4. Have you set publicly available water use reduction targets? If yes, what are those targets?

Natural Resources: Producing High Quality, Responsibly Sourced Raw Materials

1. Have you established publicly available sustainability purchasing guidelines for your direct suppliers that address issues such as environmental compliance, employment practices and product/ingredient safety?


2. Have you obtained 3rd party certifications for any of the products that you sell to Walmart?

People and Community: Ensuring Responsible and Ethical Production

1. Do you know the location of 100 percent of the facilities that produce your product(s)?


2. Before beginning a business relationship with a manufacturing facility, do you evaluate the quality of, and capacity for, production?


3. Do you have a process for managing social compliance at the manufacturing level?


4. Do you work with your supply base to resolve issues found during social compliance evaluations and also document specific corrections and improvements?


5. Do you invest in community development activities in the markets you source from and/or operate within?

It's not hard to see that companies in the position to tout their green credentials will have the competitive advantage.

As everyone jockeys to make themselves appear more eco-conscious, they will start asking their own suppliers for information they can include in their reports. So whether you sell directly to Walmart, or your customer's customer sells to Walmart, you'll soon be required to provide your own sustainability scorecard.

To learn how your company can position itself as a sustainable shipper without the large investments usually associated with green initiatives, please contact us.

For more information about Walmart's Sustainable Product Index, click here.