Wal-Mart admits sustainable procurement of electronics offers 'difficulties'
US supermarket giant Wal-Mart, which also owns UK chain Asda, has highlighted a series of problems it has encountered when attempting to introduce green procurement of the electronics products it stocks.
The retailer is aiming to persuade electronics manufacturers to fill out scorecards detailing the sustainability, recyclibility and other green credentials of their products, to allow Wal-Mart to make a decision on stocking them, Reuters reported.
However, the firm has claimed it is having difficulty persuading suppliers to provide all the information they require and has called for US federal authorities to introduce national legislation to make the process easier.
"We'd like to see some kind of federal legislation that would take all the individual state programs and bring it together," Kevin O'Connor, Wal-Mart's general merchandise manager for consumer electronics, told the agency.
Company representative Gary Severson added: "It's not about driving a Wal-Mart program. We're trying to get to a national standard...because you don't get the scale unless we're able to drive it beyond us."
Wal-Mart launched a report late last year outlining its efforts at introducing sustainability and setting out future targets, with particular emphasis placed on a campaign to reduce the packaging used for products it stocks.
Article Date: 11 January 2008
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