Walmart’s Recycling Playbook

Walmart was one of the first retailers to establish goals for private brand packaging to be 100% recyclable, reusable, or compostable and for its plastic packaging to include recycled content. Being a leader meant that Walmart was asking new things of many of its suppliers. Further, its internal team needed guidance on how to progress on the new environmental goal. Pure Strategies helped the company clarify and communicate expectations, internally and externally, and develop tools for suppliers to take the next steps on this important journey.

Strategic Framework 

Pure Strategies began by working with Walmart to develop a strategic framework for its sustainable packaging efforts. The company had several policies (e.g., deforestation), positions (e.g., avoid using degradable additives), programs (e.g., How2Reccyle labeling), and the recyclable and recycled content goals, but no cohesive way to manage and communicate its efforts. We helped the company pull the efforts together by identifying their program priorities and organizing them in a clear and concise framework.

To pull the strategy and resources together, Pure Strategies: 

• Worked with internal teams, collecting data and information including damage rates and status of packaging recycled content and recyclability;
• Interviewed suppliers and external experts to include actionable information and packaging examples.

This research was the foundation that helped to define the strategic framework for sustainable packaging. In a collaborative effort, Walmart and Pure Strategies launched the framework, training internal teams and suppliers through two in-person summits that included several engaging learning opportunities.

Defining a Roadmap to Achieve Goals Globally

With the strategy in place, Walmart looked to translate the recyclable and recycled content goals into an action plan. This meant thinking about how to make progress across the different markets that they have stores in globally.

Pure Strategies used information on the state of recycling infrastructure globally, products and packages offered in different countries, and worked with the local teams to develop an approach that was consistent across the countries — a sequence of steps for each market to take, resources and templates to use, and milestones to work toward. It also allowed for customization for each market to account for unique considerations, such as recycling infrastructure and already achieved progress.

 

Developing a Playbook to Advance Progress

Pure Strategies then helped Walmart develop a comprehensive guide for suppliers to design their packages to be recyclable and include recycled content. Our team conducted extensive research on recycling system challenges, common package designs, and feasible changes. We worked closely with experts such as the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) and the Association for Plastic Recyclers (APR) and incorporated external standards such as the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Commitment program (Walmart is a signatory to this commitment and its sustainable packaging goals are aligned with this program). Our team pulled together these many resources into an accurate and easy to understand guide.

This Recycling Playbook was a first of its kind, providing details on design considerations for recycling and including recycled content for each packaging format commonly used — including metal cans, glass bottles, paper packages, and plastic containers. It can be found both on the Walmart website and the Sustainable Packaging Coalition has made it available for interested companies. The guidance covers:

• What packages fit into recycling systems and how to design those packages to be recyclable;
• Packages that do not fit into recycling systems and examples of designs to consider changing to;
• Information on how compostable packaging might fit into the suite of circular economy solutions;
• Feasible recycled content levels for packaging.

The strategy and recyclable packaging playbook provided the guidance that many suppliers were looking for. These tools have been well received and have helped companies advance their progress on more sustainable packaging. 

Pure Strategies’ work with Walmart helped to set the foundation to manage and make progress with its suppliers in the coming years. “I have been working with Pure Strategies for many years and their reliability to get the job done has positioned them as a go-to resource,” notes Ashley C. Hall, Lead for Sustainable Packaging at Walmart. “Pure Strategies’ help on our sustainability packaging program has been critical to getting our internal teams engaged and working with our suppliers.”