Page 366 - Design for Environment A Guide to Sustainable Product Development

Service Industries 341

• Electronic Products—An Electronics Scorecard is being devel-
oped to rate suppliers’ products in terms of energy efficiency,
durability, ease and ability to upgrade, compliance with the
European RoHS directive (see Chapter 3), end-of-life solu-
tions, and packaging mass. The company is also sponsoring
“Take Back” days for electronic wastes, and is working with
suppliers to help develop more energy-efficient products.
• Forest Products—Wal-Mart is working with several nonprofit
organizations to reduce wasted paper and packaging from
products, achieve transparency of the wood supply chain, and
eliminate the use of illegally sourced wood. The company has
also worked with suppliers to develop “extended roll life”
products that eliminate plastic wrapping from individual
toilet paper or paper towel rolls by selling them as a multiple
unit package.
• Textile Products—a Textile Scorecard tool has been devel-
oped to evaluate the sustainability of textile products, includ-
ing packaging, GHG emissions, and the impact of dyes.
Wal-Mart is the largest buyer of organic cotton goods and is
also exploring alternative fibers, such as bamboo and recy-
cled yarn. The company is also developing a closed-loop re -
cycling program for textiles and is working with dye houses
to encourage the use of lower toxicity dyes.
• Global Logistics—Wal-Mart is an EPA SmartWay Transport
Partner and works with major truck manufacturers to help
develop diesel hybrid trucks and aerodynamic trucks. Also,
Wal-Mart installed diesel-powered Auxiliary Power Units on
all trucks that make overnight trips, providing electrical power
for heating and communication systems without idling the
engine.

Wal-Mart is continuing its sustainability efforts with a new ini-
tiative in China, announced at a summit meeting in October 2008
in Beijing and involving more than 1,000 leading suppliers, Chinese
officials, and nongovernmental organizations. The company commit-
ted to partner with suppliers to improve energy efficiency by 20% in
its top 200 supplier factories by 2012, and to hold suppliers account-
able for regulatory compliance, transparency, and environmental
and social responsibility. Wal-Mart also plans to design and open a
new store prototype that uses 40% less energy, to reduce energy
use at existing stores 30% by 2010, and to cut water use in all of its
stores by 50%.
Other major retailers have launched similar types of programs.
For example, in 2007 JCPenney established a Corporate Social