Wal-Mart scores vendors on green packaging    

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 1/31/2008 2:05:00 PM

Bentonville, Ark. – Aiming at reducing packaging material use by 5% by 2013, Wal-Mart Stores will begin rating its suppliers with a scorecard system tomorrow, Feb. 1.

The scorecard has been in test phase for the past year; now Wal-Mart said more than 97,000 products have been entered into the scorecard by 6,371 vendors.

"It's important to us that our suppliers see the intrinsic value behind sustainability, both for their business and the environment,” said Matt Kistler, svp of sustainability at Wal-Mart. “We've made significant progress throughout the first year of the scorecard and it is a key responsibility of our suppliers to input new products and update packaging changes on an ongoing basis."

The scorecard evaluates the sustainability of product packaging based on greenhouse gas emissions, product-to-package ratio, space utilization, innovation, the amount of renewable energy used in packaging production and emissions related to the distance packaging materials are transported.

Suppliers receive a score in each of these metrics and can view how they rate overall compared to their competitors in each product category.

“We will continue to work with the members of our Packaging Sustainable Value Network to refine those metrics," said Amy Zettlemoyer-Lazar, director of packaging at Sam's Club. "We are in a unique position to drive positive change in the area of packaging by working with our suppliers."