Retail Supply & Demand Chain

On July 16th, Walmart announced plans to develop a worldwide sustainable product index during a meeting with 1,500 of its suppliers, associates, and sustainability leaders at its home office in Bentonville, Arkansas. Walmart claims the index will establish a single source of data for evaluating the sustainability of products, but a better way to think about it is as a starting point for evaluating the sustainability of the suppliers themselves. Walmart is going to do this through a series of 15 questions, which fall under 4 headings - Energy and Climate, Material Efficiency, Natural Resources, and People and Community. (Click on the link to Walmart CEO Mike Duke's speech and you'll find a way to download the Fact Sheet and 15 question pdfs).