WALMART ELIMINATES MORE THAN 80% OF ITS WASTE IN CALIFORNIA THAT WOULD OTHERWISE GO TO LANDFILLS

Walmart reported today that it has eliminated more than 80% of the waste that would go to landfills from its operations in California. The company’s comprehensive waste reduction program that produced these results is now being implemented across Walmart’s 4,400 stores, Sam’s Club locations and distribution centers in the U.S., moving it closer to its global goal of creating zero waste.

Achieving a similar 80% reduction in its landfill waste across the country would help Walmart prevent more than 11.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. This is equal to taking more than 2 million cars off the road for a year.

“We are proud of the progress we are making toward our zero waste goal, but realize we still have more work to do,” said Bill Simon, president and CEO of Walmart U.S. “We are committed to actively finding and developing solutions that are both good for the environment and good for business.”
“We do everything with the customer in mind. We are committed to buying, operating and selling for less, and our waste program is a great example of developing new ideas that help us save our customers money,” continued Simon. “Through this program we are able to provide the raw materials needed to make new products, recycle millions of pounds of commodities and reduce the environmental impact of landfills.”

Beginning in 2009, Walmart created a nationwide infrastructure of landfill alternatives that could open new opportunities for municipalities and other businesses to reduce the amount of solid waste they send to landfills. The Walmart zero waste program has three main components:
- Recycling cardboard, paper, aluminum, plastic bags and roughly 30 other items through the super sandwich bale (SSB) program. Items not eligible for the SSB, including wood pallets, polystyrene plastic and apparel, are sent to Walmart’s return centers for reuse or recycling.
- Donating healthy, nutritious food to food banks around the country. In 2010, Walmart donated 256 million pounds of food to hunger relief organizations, the equivalent of 197 million meals.
- Creating animal feed, energy or compost from expired food and other organic products following the EPA’s food waste hierarchy.