Walmart, in a blog post credited to , the retailer’s director, strategic programs, announced it has introduced the Circular Connector to help companies find sustainable packaging ideas.
The Circular Connector complements other Walmart sustainability initiatives, including its program to convert operations to 100% renewable energy and its commitment to using 100% recyclable, reusable or industrially compostable packaging by 2025.
Innovation is essential to achieving its goals, Walmart asserted, and to satisfy customer growing expectations about finding sustainable/sustainably packaged products when they shop.
Walmart designed the Circular Connector platform to help accelerate packaging innovation and implementation by making it easier for sourcing teams and brands to quickly find sustainable solutions, the retailer noted. The Circular Connector will help Walmart achieve company goals by helping brands and others with whom it works to identify and implement more sustainable packaging solutions.
The Circular Connector resides on walmartsustainabilityhub.com for all packaging companies that are interested in submitting sustainable packaging solutions. Their proposals should align with Walmart’s sustainable packaging goals, the retailer pointed out. Each submission will be screened against those goals. If aligned, Walmart will publish the proposals this year for public download on walmartsustainabilityhub.com. Also, Walmart will pass the ideas to its private brand managers and suppliers for their consideration.
Walmart’s Recycling Playbook provides examples of materials that are difficult to recycle and could disqualify proposals from inclusion in the Circular Connector. The materials in question include:
- Metalized films
- Multilayer materials
- PVC or PVDC
- EPS or PS
- PETG in rigid plastic packaging
- Oxo-degradable
- Undetectable carbon black
- Colored PET
- Biodegradable additives in petroleum-based plastics
With hundreds of companies working toward sustainable packaging goals, Circular Connector can become a wellspring of new ideas, Walmart declared.
