Wal-Mart Canada cuts back packaging

This month, Wal-Mart Canada will host a sustainable packaging exposition, the first of its kind in Canada, supporting its goal to reduce the packaging on products sold in Wal-Mart stores by five percent by 2013 according to Wal-Mart Canada. The Toronto event, held in partnership with the Packaging Association of Canada, will host more than 100 Wal-Mart suppliers, and will include product buyers from Wal-Mart Canada's home office.

At the Toronto Congress Center event, Wal-Mart Canada will introduce its new Packaging Scorecard program, which will assess suppliers' products on the basis of the sustainability of their packaging.

"Making smarter, sustainable packaging choices is one of the best ways Wal-Mart and our suppliers can make positive environmental change," says Guy McGuffin, vice president and Sustainable Packaging Network leader, Wal-Mart Canada Corp. "Through better education and stricter standards, we will make sustainable packaging a key component of the decision process when we are selecting products to put on our shelves."

"Cradle to Cradle," is the sustainable packaging exposition managed by the Packaging Association of Canada, which will educate Wal-Mart Canada's internal team of product buyers and external suppliers, representing some of the world's biggest consumer packaged goods companies, on new materials, technologies and alternatives for traditional packaging. More than 65 exhibitors will demonstrate everything from renewable raw materials to sustainable package design.

"Ultimately, we want to help businesses eager to adopt a packaging model whereby materials are used wisely and perpetually or returned to the earth without negative effect," says James Downham, president and CEO of the Packaging Association of Canada. "The packaging industry is working diligently to meet the greener standards of businesses and consumers, making viable sustainable alternatives available today."

The move to sustainable packaging among product manufacturers and retailers will focus on reducing the overall eco-footprint required to make, transport and dispose of product packages. Examples of considerations for Wal-Mart Canada's Packaging Scorecard, which will be initiated by year's end, include whether companies are generating greenhouse gas emissions or using renewable energy to create packaging; whether materials used for packaging can be reduced, or eliminated; and, when materials are necessary, whether those materials have residual value and programs available to encourage recycling.

"Many times, we can pick up a cardboard box and see opportunities to reduce the weight, cube size, and materials used," says McGuffin. "Even small changes can have an immense impact, not just for the environment, but for our business. When we use less packaging, we spend less on materials, ship less weight, and require less space in our stores. At the same time, fewer trees are cut, less energy-intensive production occurs, and less waste is produced. There's great alignment between environmental and business sustainability."