The Walmart Foundation will grant USD2 million to fund The Sustainability Consortium (TSC), an independent research organization that developed a reporting system and measurement tools to evaluate products and determine supplier sustainability performance.
Using the Walmart Foundation grant, TSC China will engage industries, universities and other experts to form a global network of leaders improving sustainability in consumer goods, and will provide tools and resources to help suppliers become more sustainable and competitive.
TSC has developed the Sustainability Index for Walmart to measure product sustainability. Merchandise buyers from Walmart US, Sam’s Club, Walmart.com and Walmart Canada are now using it in making regular buying decisions.
So far more than 500 suppliers have participated in the Sustainability Index, representing an average of 70 percent of sales within the categories Walmart is currently evaluating. Walmart expects to expand the use of the Index to an additional 100 product categories by the end of 2012.
By 2017, it said it will buy 70 percent of the goods it sells in US stores and in US Sam’s Clubs only from suppliers in the United States, China, and around the world who use the Sustainability Index to evaluate and share the sustainability of their products. The change will involve suppliers who produce goods in categories where the Index is available.
Beginning in 2013, Walmart will use the Sustainability Index to influence the design of its US private brand products.
Kara Hurst, CEO of TCS, said the USD2 million grant from the Walmart Foundation will support the Consortium and position it to help bring the best science and research to support the development of the green supply chain in China and globally.