FIS – Worldnews – Wal Mart develops ‘sustainability product index’

Wal Mart develops ‘sustainability product index’

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Tuesday, August 11, 2009, 16:40 (GMT + 9)

Retail giant Wal Mart announced plans to develop a worldwide sustainable product index to promote greater quality and lower costs.

“Customers want products that are more efficient, that last longer and perform better. And increasingly they want information about the entire lifecycle of a product so they can feel good about buying it,“ said Mike Duke, Walmart’s president and CEO.

“They want to know that the materials in the product are safe, that it was made well and that it was produced in a responsible way,” explained the executive during a meeting with 1,500 of its suppliers, associates and sustainability leaders at its home office.

Wal Mart aims to offer customers ‘greater transparency on the quality and history of products’. (Photo: Wal-Mart)

“We do not see this as a trend that will fade. Higher customer expectations are a permanent part of the future. At Walmart, we’re working to make sustainability sustainable, so that it’s a priority in good times and in the tough times. An important part of that is developing the tools to help enable sustainable consumption,” Duke added.

Wal Mart plans to implement the initiative in three phases, beginning with a survey of its more than 100,000 suppliers around the world.

The survey will be composed of 15 questions on their own sustainability efforts.

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