Lower Prices, Lower Carbon, too? Walmart examines sustainability

on Sep 25 in Related stories

Walmart Sustainability Index Means Big Business
By Tilde Herrera
Greener World Media and Reuters, Sept. 24, 2009

Some of Walmart’s top suppliers in the U.S. will begin sharing their environmental impact data with the world’s largest retailer next week.

Oct. 1 marks the official start of the first phase of Walmart’s Sustainability Index. That’s when “top-tier” consumer product companies must return to Walmart a 15-question assessment form (PDF) with details about their carbon footprint, resource use and ethical business practices.

While many large suppliers have tracked this data for years, some estimate the prepared few represent just 10 percent of the roughly 100,000 global companies who sell to Walmart.

Walmart’s sustainability assessment offers both a huge business opportunity and a potentially huge environmental business. Walmart suppliers will likely find opportunities to wring inefficiencies from their operations through the process of assessing their environmental footprints, while a bumper crop of consulting and accounting firms is springing up to help suppliers navigate the journey.

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