Walmart is taking action to extend its commitment to sustainability to its supply chain. The retailing and distribution giant is itself walking the walk with new High-Efficiency stores and corporate goals of 100% renewable energy use, zero waste and products that sustain resources and the environment. Now many small and mid-size companies that supply the international retailer will need to think hard about making their organizations greener, too.
In July, Walmart president and CEO Mike Duke announced a Supplier Sustainability Assessment, to be implemented by October 1, 2009. The Sustainability Assessment poses 15 questions for Walmart suppliers under four headings: Energy & Climate, Material Efficiency, Natural Resources, and People & Community. Walmart wants to know what their supply chain members are doing to measure and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, solid waste and water use. The Assessment pushes sustainability beyond just an efficiency play by probing into sustainable purchasing, safe materials and social compliance. The questionnaire doesn’t stop at the supplier’s business. Walmart wants to know how its suppliers’ own direct vendors perform on a number of the criteria, too.
We’re beginning to see more scrutiny by large customers on their supply chain partners. The owner of a mid-size company with a long term contract with Duke Energy told me he’d received a sustainability questionnaire recently. If you have key accounts of significant size, market forces like energy costs and public opinion are driving them to adopt more sustainable policies. Get a jump on planning to make your business more sustainable, too, so you’re ready to respond positively to an assessment questionnaire.
Link to the announcement and download a PDF of the the Walmart Supplier Sustainability Assessment
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