Sustainability awareness has come a long way in recent years…and so, too, has the methodology in ensuring claims made are claims verified. And no sustainability initiative in the business community has received more attention than the Walmart Packaging Scorecard. Introduced in 2006, the scorecard included measurements for GhG (Greenhouse Gas) emissions, Recycled Content, and Cube Utilization, to name a few. But now, Walmart is making a significant change. After many years of modifications based on supplier input, Walmart is introducing new category-specific scorecards.
Instead of a single 15-question scorecard for all suppliers, Walmart said it will now use category-specific scorecards. Categories — such as cereal, apparel, hardware, toys and electronics — will each have their own scorecard questions. For each category, suppliers will be ranked according to sustainability progress and action items. Scorecard items will include many of the traditional questions for greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency and waste, but will also include questions relevant to each category. For example, for laptops, the surveys will include questions about the energy used during component manufacturing and chemical exposure to workers. This new program will roll out the 100 category-specific scorecards in 2013 and add more categories in the near future.
Suppliers who score well will be recognized and rewarded by Walmart, while suppliers who don’t perform well will have “family meetings” with Walmart to develop improvement plans. In 2013, the new scorecards will be integrated with formal supplier reviews. In addition, sustainability will become part of the business objectives for every buyer for Walmart.