Walmart Announces Sustainable Product Index
In a sign of the growing demand for green products, Walmart has announced plans to develop a worldwide sustainable product index to establish a single source of data for evaluating the sustainability of products.
In
a sign of the growing demand for green products, Walmart has announced
plans to develop a worldwide sustainable product index to establish a
single source of data for evaluating the sustainability of products.
The company will introduce the initiative in three phases, beginning
with a survey of its more than 100,000 suppliers around the world. The
survey includes 15 questions focusing on energy and climate, material
efficiency, natural resources, and people and community.
“The questions aren’t complicated but we’ve never before systematically
asked for this kind of information. The survey is a key first step
toward establishing real transparency in our supply chain,” says John
Fleming, chief merchandising officer, Walmart U.S.
As a second step, the company is helping create a consortium of universities that will collaborate with suppliers, retailers, NGOs and government to
develop a global database of information on the lifecycle of products
-- from raw materials to disposal.
The company also plans to partner with one or more leading technology
companies to create an open platform that will power the index.
The final step in developing the index will be to translate the product
information into a simple rating for consumers about the sustainability
of products, Walmart says.
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