Environment
In November 2013, Walmart announced the Great Value™ Naturals product line to bring sustainable chemistry principles to our customers at a price they can afford. The new line of all-natural cleaning products is as effective as leading conventional cleaners and available in more than 2,000 Walmart stores across the U.S.
Policy on sustainable chemistry in consumables
Walmart customers expect products that are safe, affordable and sustainable. This preference is especially relevant to consumables products that customers put in them, on them or around them.
In September 2013, Walmart U.S. and Sam’s Club U.S. announced a Policy on Sustainable Chemistry in Consumables to empower customers and members with information about the products that we offer them and to accelerate the use of Sustainable Chemistry in the formulation of those products. Sustainable Chemistry is the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use or generation of substances hazardous to humans and the environment. This policy was the result of more than a year of collaboration with suppliers, NGOs, academics, government and industry stakeholders.
We set new expectations among suppliers in three broad areas:
- Increase transparency by disclosing all product ingredients online beginning January 2015 and priority chemicals on product packaging beginning January 2018.
- Advance the safer formulation of products using risk assessment, hazard avoidance and informed substitution principles.
- Certify private-label products under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Design for the Environment (DfE) Safer Product Labeling Program to the extent possible.
Walmart will monitor progress against these expectations through the Sustainability Index and The Wercs, a third-party product data clearinghouse, beginning January 2014. Walmart will publicly communicate aggregate progress against this policy beginning January 2016 using the following metrics:
- Percentages of products with online and on-pack disclosure
- Weight volume of priority chemicals and percentage of products with priority chemicals
- Percentage of products formulated exclusively with DfE-approved ingredients
- Percentage of private-label products that are DfE certified
Walmart will strive toward formulating and labeling its private-brand products in accordance with the EPA’s Design for the Environment (DfE) program. The EPA’s DfE Safer Product Labeling Program is an authoritative, voluntary program that reviews the safety of products by evaluating their individual ingredients against transparent, scientifically-based criteria.
Products that earn the DfE label have had every ingredient evaluated for human health and environmental effects using the most current information, predictive modeling tools and expert judgment. In acquiring a DfE label, a product proves that it contains the safest possible ingredients for its function.
Walmart will begin its private-brand collaboration with the DfE Safer Product Labeling Program with household cleaning products in January 2014 and expand to other product categories as the DfE program expands.