WAL-MART China unveils sustainability drive

Planet Retail  22 Oct 2008

Wal-Mart has taken "the next step in its sustainability journey" by hosting a gathering of more than 1,000 leading suppliers, Chinese officials and NGOs in Beijing, China. The company outlined a series of aggressive goals and expectations to build a more environmentally and socially responsible global supply chain.

"Sustainability is about building a better business. We think it is essential to our future success as a retailer - and to meeting the expectations of customers," said Lee Scott, President and CEO. "Maintaining the trust of our customers is tied hand-in-hand with improving the quality of our supplier factories and their products." The company will focus on areas aimed at meeting or exceeding social and environmental standards, driving innovation and efficiency and building stronger partnerships with suppliers, government and NGOs. At the Summit, Wal-Mart laid out a series of requirements for companies who want to do business with Wal-Mart. These requirements include: Required demonstration of compliance with environmental laws and regulations; Improving energy efficiency and using fewer natural resources; Higher standards of product safety and quality; and Greater transparency in ownership.

Wal-Mart also announced a major effort to make Wal-Mart China a leader in sustainability in China by committing to make its stores more sustainable. The company will design and open a new store prototype that uses 40% less energy and will reduce energy use at existing stores by 30% by 2010. In addition, during the next two years, Wal-Mart China will aim to cut water use in all of its stores in half by investing in new hardware and systems and developing best practices that will help its associates and stores use water more efficiently. The company also pledged to bring more environmentally sustainable products to its store shelves.

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