More Sustainable Packaging Tips to Help With The Wal-Mart New Packaging Scorecard

By Sheldon Barry Cwinn

I wanted to continue posting ideas concerning sustainable packaging. It is an important Wal-Mart initiative and many vendors want their product to score well on the new Sustainable Packaging scorecard that came into effect in July.

One thing that is exciting to me is being able to interact with so many Wal-Mart vendors while serving the Wal-Mart Vendor Community in my capacity as Vice President of Wisdom Analytics (www.wisdomanalytics.ca).

The multitude of vendors who would mention the concept of sustainability, and the impact it will have on the Wal-Mart vendor community, prompted me to kickoff Wisdom-Analytics' Wal-Mart Vendor Blog with a post on recyclable hangers. Guess what? I got deluged with emails.

Pssst... don't email me, post your comments here - its a blog!

Today I would like to continue on the theme of sustainable packaging, by looking at some other kinds of merchandise that can be packaged creatively.

Let's look at gadgets and gizmos. You know, those devices that would normally get shrink-wrapped and hang from a peg.....



These smart packaging ideas use corrugated cardboard instead of any plastics for packaging popular consumer gadgets. The designer Emile Bertrand-Villemure wanted to protect the environment, re-use cardboard and create attractive-looking packaging in a single design.


Since most gadgets use a combination of plastic bags, expanded plastic foam and air-filled plastic padding, it would be good to achieve the same degree of protection without using any plastic. Since you can easily cut and layer cardboard, it’d be really easy to create complex shapes that are moulded to the gadget you’re trying to protect. The packaging might be a little heavier, but it would certainly be a lot more eco-friendly. We just need to use an eco-friendly glue too!



I think that Emile is really on to something!

Source: Packaging Uqam

Wisdom Analytics

Let Eco-Friendly packaging be your edge to Wal-Mart Profits!

By Sheldon Barry Cwinn

Wal-Mart will reduce their environmental footprint rather aggressively over the next five years. The corporate goal is to develop a new standard of environmental responsibility. This includes using 100% renewable energy, produce zero waste and sell merchandise that sustains resources and the environment.

How does that effect Wal-Mart vendors?

Vendors will now have to complete Wal-Mart's Sustainable Packaging Scorecard, available in Retail Link for each item that they sell to Wal-Mart. And, their buyer will have to submit the SPS for every product that flows through the Wal-Mart supply chain. This is not something to be taken lightly because if a vendor sells a product through the supply chain and another vendor has a similar product at the same price point with more eco-friendly packaging, Wal-Mart may well weight the competitor's product as superior because environmental packaging scores are now factored into all purchasing decisions.

Why not share some ideas with other vendors on how to reduce packaging and your product's environmental footprint. Why don't I weigh in on some eco-friendly packaging ideas.

• Softgoods Manufactuirer? Why not use recyclable hangers! Hangers can be made out of cardbaord with a similar price point to the plastic ones we all use today. And with Wal-Mart using 1 billion hangers a year, the switch over could be huge in terms of environmental impact, without compromising or effecting profits.
• Food Vendor? Biopack America specializes in supplying recyclable packaging that exceeds most others in terms of quality and variety. In most cases environmentally-friendly packaging will not add to packaging and logistics costs.

Please feel free to add your own ideas. We are striving for a lively exchange of vendor ideas to help one another succeed in the Wal-Mart supply chain.

Wisdom Analytics