Walmart braces itself for final zero waste hurdle

Walmart's zero waste drive generated cost savings of more than $231m for the business last year, but the company admits that improving on this will be a daunting task.


The figure, revealed in the company’s global responsibility report today (April 17), mainly stems from increased recycling revenues and reduced overheads.

The US-based retailer is currently diverting almost 81% of waste generated from its stateside operations from landfill, but warns that all of the “low-hanging fruit” in terms of waste reduction has now been picked.

Going forward, it says the biggest challenge lies in tackling the other 19% – mainly from its restrooms and parking lots.

The company states in its report: “We may need new technology. We may need new partnerships. We don’t know the answers yet, but we’re working to find solutions.”

To help find new solutions, Walmart is looking to consolidate its waste reduction efforts on a global scale.

It recently restructured its sustainable value networks to help standardise processes, procedures and data validation methodologies across all the countries it operates in.

Maxine Perella

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