Expo highlights sustainability

Experience has shown that when Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, has its suppliers make small changes in packaging, the results can produce big savings.

The company’s aggressive packaging sustainability strategy was evident as it hosted nearly 200 packaging companies displaying their innovations and 2,000 attendees at the fifth annual Sustainable Packaging Expo, held April 5-7 in Rogers, AR, near the corporation’s international headquarters.

Amy Zettlemoyer-Lazar, Sam’s Club senior director of packaging and supplier diversity, explains that the expo was launched to help educate Walmart’s hundreds of buyers about the value of packaging and how controlling its use can create savings by reducing waste, while benefitting the environment. She adds that the buyers are encouraged to walk the expo with the consumer packaged goods marketers from whom they buy products to review available improvements from packaging companies. Many products on display represented secondary packaging and “retail-ready,” which emphasizes the package’s ability to protect the product while providing point-of-purchase marketing and easy stocking of shelves.

Exhibiting companies were able to display packaging that is already in use by Walmart and Sam’s Club, as well as new products they believe could have sustainable benefits for the retailer. Exhibitors were able to tell one success story about their packaging based on data submitted through the Walmart packaging scorecard. These stories explain the objective of each project, the approach and best practices employed, as well as specific data that detail benefits of their products within the Walmart system.

Conference tells success stories
Walmart also offered a series of presentations from its own staff, industry associations and consultants on related sustainability topics. Among the most popular were presentations on Walmart success stories. One example highlights how Walmart has been able to eliminate 590,000 lb of PVC packaging annually for household products, while also boosting sales with a simpler, paperboard belly band.

Ron Sasine, senior director of packaging for Walmart private brands, also points out that the retailer is incorporating sustainable principles into the packaging of its “Great Value” private brand while designing the look of a coherent family of products instead of “one-off designs.”

Rand Waddoups, senior director of strategy and sustainability, as well as a former buyer, says, “Normally a buyer doesn’t get exposure to broad-based innovations in packaging. The expo certainly increases Walmart’s internal competence around packaging opportunities.”

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