Major global retailer Walmart plans to use its Sustainability Index worldwide to measure the environmental impact of its products.
After using the index in its United States home market, it will begin using the index in Chile and Mexico in 2014 with South Africa already using some of the index’s key questions in its supplier sustainability surveys.
Currently, the index has been rolled out across 200 product categories and to 1,000 suppliers. By the end of this year, it expects this to have reached 300 categories and 5,000 suppliers.
Speaking at the company’s Global Sustainability Milestone Meeting, Walmart president and chief executive Mike Duke also announced that the retailers, which owns ASDA in the UK, intends to increase its use of recycled content in its products with a particular focus on beverage packaging, over-the-counter drugs containers, dairy packaging and berry containers.
He added: “We’ve reached an acceleration point where we are moving from measurement to results.
“We’re starting to really drive progress with the Index. This is about trust and value.
“Using less energy, greener chemicals, fewer fertilisers and more recycled materials – all of this – is the right thing to do for the planet and it’s right for our customers and our business.”
