Session: Packaging

Life Cycle Inventory and the Impact to the Wal-Mart Packaging Sustainable Value Network
Amy Zettlemoyer,^*   SAM'S CLUB

The Wal-Mart Inc. Packaging Sustainable Value Network's goal is to improve the packaging of every product sold at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Additionally we hope to universally raise the bar on packaging through our unique position in the marketplace and create a race to the top for new packaging technologies and materials. These efforts coordinate and support Wal-Mart’s overall sustainability goals of:

Through this commitment we believe, we will conserve vast amounts of natural resources, reduce global warming pollution, spark universal innovations and save money for everyone involved. The global packaging industry did more than $465 billon in business in 2005. Packaging is at the nexus of every global supply chain and customer relationship. Small changes to packaging have significant impacts on the use of materials, manufacturing, shipping containers, trucks, storage, refrigeration, waste and the energy used for production, transportation and waste.

The Wal-Mart Inc. Packaging Sustainable Value Network created the Sustainable Packaging Scorecard as a measurement tool. Beginning with our private label products, on November 1, 2007, we introduced the scorecard process which is fully transparent to our more than 2,000 private label suppliers. On February 1st 2007, the Sustainable Packaging Scorecard was made available to Wal-Mart’s more than 60,000 suppliers. For 12 months, the Packaging Sustainable Value Network including Product and Packaging suppliers will improve the data behind the scorecard while the Product Suppliers input item level packaging detail. The data behind the scorecard currently being collected is GHG/CO2 equivalents for raw packaging materials as well as Health and Safety information. Both of these data sets are being collected by the Packaging Trade Associations on the Packaging SVN conducting full LCA's to ISO 14000 series standards for each raw material. Converted packaging materials, including blow molding, injection molding, additives, adhesive etc will be included in Phase II to be rolled out by 2010.

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