Walmart aims at becoming “packaging neutral” by 2025. Packaging neutral is a way of packaging that guarantees that there is zero wastage. This means that the packaging material is recycled, reused, or composted to reduce wastes. In other words, it means that all the packaging recycled or reused at Walmart’s stores are equal to the amount of packaging used by the products on the firm’s shelves. The firm aims at ensuring that it achieves “Zero Waste” by 2025 in the countries it operates such as United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Japan (Walmart, N.d). In pursuit of a circular economy, Walmart is engaging suppliers and customers, where products or goods are manufactured, consumed, and recycled in a continuous loop. Through recycling or reusing, the cost of production will be low. This will ensure high living standards because recycling of wastes will result in low cost of goods and services.
However, there are numerous challenges Walmart is facing in becoming packaging neutral. To begin with, the company produces a lot of wastes. Instead, the firm ought to delve in minimizing the waste it produces. Secondly, the firm is having a challenge in getting a reliable measurement for measuring its progress in “Zero Waste.” Thirdly, the company is finding it difficult to ensure the loop between the waste produced and the landfills is closed. Lastly, Walmart has neither eliminated all the wastes it creates nor recycled them. Thus, it is facing a challenge in achieving its aim of becoming “packaging neutral.”
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Walmart’s Deli Pizza Box meets my definition of packaging neutral. The boxes are entirely made from cardboard wastes. This makes the system more efficient and also closes the loop between the wastes produced and the waste recycled (Walmart, 2010). Through its partnership with PRATT Industries (US), the 8,600 tons of solid waste recycled is estimated to save 125,000 trees and 40M gallons of water (Walmart, 2010). The waste is also used to provide energy to the plant, and it is estimated that when fully operational it could reduce the cost of electricity needed by 40%. Thus, the designing of the Deli Pizza Boxes is a significant step towards achieving its objective of becoming “packaging neutral” by 2025.
References
Walmart. (N.d). Sustainability: Enhancing Sustainability of Operations and Global Value Chains. [Online]. Available at: https://corporate.walmart.com/global-responsibility/sustainability/ . Accessed 20 th Dec 2018.
Walmart [Video File]. (2010). Secret Life of Walmart’s Deli Pizza Box. [Online]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVScI_XS84A . Accessed 20 th Dec 2018.
