smooth wombat's Journal: Wal-Mart goes for zero waste

Wal-Mart is the butt of many jokes and derided by many who consider the mega-lo-mart's businesses practices unethical and detrimental to local businesses. However, even I, one who only goes to Wal-Mart for film and camera batteries, must admit that their effort to achieve zero waste is a great idea.

What is zero waste? In a nutshell, the idea that we can design, produce, consume and recycle products without throwing anything away.

Obviously there are numerous permutations of this policy including, but not limited to less stuff being thrown into landfills, industries being created to produce more recyclable products and packaging, and perhaps most controversially, less need for waste haulers and related businesses.

As The Grass Roots Recycling Network says, "Zero waste challenges the whole idea of endless consumption without needing to say so," and "poses a fundamental challenge to 'business as usual.'"

Well, sorta

[turg]

While it is certainly more than most companies are doing, I don't know if I'd call it Zero Waste. What I get from the article is that they are trying to avoid throwing anything else themselves. If they want zero waste, they'd need to change how every product on the shelf is packaged (for one thing).

Re:

[smooth wombat]

True. It's not completely zero waste. I don't even think zero waste is possible. Can we really recycle batteries?

On the whole, for a business the size of Wal-Mart to try and reduce its environmental footprint, ANY reduction in waste is a good thing.

Re:

[nizo]

Theoretically they could find ways to recycle the packaging of products they carry, but it sounds like they plan on pressuring suppliers (which in this case I think is a good thing):

More broadly, Wal-Mart is putting pressure on its 60,000 suppliers to reduce packaging of all kinds. Right now, companies that make packaging have little incentive to cut back since they don't pay for disposal. The world's largest retailer may be able to change that.