Waste not, Want not:
Wal-Mart’s Waste Management
Sarah Smythe
Bemidji State University
Honors 1105
Mengelkoch, Nielsen
April 23, 2006
It is hard to ignore Wal-Mart’s success in the retail world, especially since it is the world’s largest retail chain. Waste and waste management are an increasingly important topic, particularly when you have the capability of producing such a large amount of waste. With that in mind, it is important to identify what types of waste Wal-Mart is producing and what it is doing about it. Since Wal-Mart is such a large corporation it is easy to pick out their flaws, and accomplishments, but to understand how Wal-Mart is really doing with waste management comparing it to other large retail stores can give a more accurate picture; however, I will be mainly focusing on Wal-Mart.
Beginning research it was important to find out how much waste Wal-Mart produces; since the actual numbers and percentages aren’t available, defining what is considered waste helped create an image of how much they produce. Wal-Mart has several different sizes of stores, each carrying similar things. In Bemidji, MN, there is a Super Wal-Mart, so in my research I focused on this size store. On average a Wal-Mart Supercenter is 186,077 sq. ft. with approximately 116,000 items (Wal-MartFacts.com, April 2, 2006). Many of those items can eventually be turned into waste things like outdated food from the deli, meats, produce, bakery, or dairy sections, damaged goods, and packaging including cardboard and plastic that the pallets of goods are wrapped in. Another type of waste that Wal-Mart produces comes second hand, like fuel and exhaust from the huge fleet of trucks, used oil from the auto center, and building materials from the many Wal-Mart’s across the country. According to Wal-MartFacts.com there are 23 Supercenters in Minnesota alone, and Wal-Mart continues to open a new store every two business days according to the documentary by Micha Peled (Store Wars: When Wal-Mart Comes to Town [documentary] 200_). In a presentation given by Ken Stone, Professor Emeritus of Economics at Iowa State University, he reports that there are approximately 400 vacant Wal-Mart stores at any given time in the United States (Stone, 2006). With so many stores across the United States Wal-Mart has been known to make a few mistakes.
Just recently Wal-Mart has been under investigation for improper transporting of hazardous waste. Wal-Mart spokesperson Sarah Clark said goods including hair spray, paint, aerosol cans, and charcoal, are classified as hazardous.(USA Today, 2006, ¶3); these are things that most people would not recognize as being hazardous. Clark also said that the issue isn’t whether or not Wal-Mart disposed of the hazardous waste correctly, but regards how they transport it from their stores (¶5). According to Clark, “Wal-Mart typically loads returned merchandise onto trucks for transport to a return center, and then puts any hazardous material on special trucks to go to disposal sites.” (¶4) According to the government hazardous waste needs to be on a certified truck to begin with. Unfortunately this is not the only circumstance in which Wal-Mart has broken the law. Fred Contrada writes that at a Wal-Mart store in Massachusetts, “oil from a drum of waste oil leaked into the storm drains…Wal-Mart took steps to clean up the oil [the same day], but waited 13 hours before notifying the state.”, because of this and other incidents Wal-Mart was fined $8,000 (Contrada, 2005, ¶5) in the state of Massachusetts. Lately, Wal-Mart has been getting a lot of attention because their CEO, Lee Scott, has been promising some impressive things. In an article posted on MSNBC.com, “Is Wal-Mart going Green?” (2005), Lee Scott is reported as saying that Wal-Mart wants to become a “good steward for the environment” and to use only renewable energy sources and produce zero waste (¶2). Scott proposes spending $500 million a year on things like: improving fuel efficiency in the truck fleet, reducing energy used by stores, and cutting down solid waste created by Wal-Mart (¶4). While he doesn’t give any specifics on how Wal-Mart is planning on accomplishing this, his promises already seem too good to be true. While talking with the local owner/operator of the Transfer Station in Bemidji, MN, John Magnuson, he said that “zero waste is impossible” (personal communication, April 10,2006); there will always be something that can be improved upon, but some waste just can’t be avoided. Magnuson gave a rather startling example of how much waste the town of Bemidji produces in a year. He said that if you take all of the waste from Beltrami County, and loaded up Magnuson trucks completely full; those trucks could line up end-to-end for 40 miles. Magnuson also said that about 40 percent of all of the waste that comes to the transfer station is from commercial businesses, although he was unsure of how much came from Wal-Mart.
Fortunately, there is some good being done. One of the ways that Wal-Mart is trying to cut back on their waste is by creating a more efficient truck. According to information found on Wal-Mart.com, Wal-Mart has one of the largest trucking fleets in the world. In order to make their trucks more environmentally friendly, they are changing their design. By adding wind skirts under the trailer of the truck, they are able to reduce wind resistance and save on fuel, also by creating a more aerodynamic tractor, wind resistance is decreased, and fuel is saved. Wal-Martstores.com says that nearly “two-thirds of all gallons burnt today by trucks can be attributed to overcoming aerodynamic resistance.” (wal-martstores.com, 2006). Wal-Mart also claims, on its official website, that, “…we currently have over 100 hybrid vehicles in operation and have requested another 100 for 2007.”(wal-martstores.com, 2006). This may sound impressive but, upon further review, this has come up lacking. In Minnesota alone Wal-Mart employs 18,381 associates as of January, 2006 (wal-martfacts.com, 2006); comparing 200 corporate hybrid cars to 18,381 associates doesn’t seem as impressive. This isn’t the only statement Wal-Mart has made that seems too good to be true. Andy Abello, Store Manager of Bemidji, MN, Super Wal-Mart, said that because Wal-Mart is such a large corporation they have the opportunity to work directly with merchandisers to create a more environmentally friendly product. Abello said that by working with the ALL brand laundry detergent company they were able to create a product that was more concentrated and therefore needed less packaging. By removing all of the water from the ALL brand laundry detergent, the bottle size decreased by half; this type of improvement creates more shelf space, saves landfill space, and saves fuel during shipping (personal communication, March 29, 2006). When asked John Magnuson, local Transfer station owner, explained why this new plastic bottle saves so much fuel; he said that because the container is smaller you can fit more bottles per load, which creates fewer loads to deliver. In turn, because plastic weighs less, it uses less fuel to transport the goods. However, Magnuson also knew of a downside to new plastic materials, he said that plastic is still very hard to recycle. Given the example of a plastic pop bottle, Magnuson said that the bottle is actually three types of plastic: the bottle, the lid, and the label; all of the plastic is hard to separate, and it is all a different consistency, making it hard to process once it is separated (personal communication, April 10, 2006).
Besides, even though the ALL brand created a smaller package, because the solution inside is more concentrated, it may actually be more harmful to the environment; it also seems that Wal-Mart wasn’t making these changes for environment reasons, but for financial savings for themselves. Even though Wal-Mart may have some questionable motives, there are some things that can’t be overlooked, because despite the fact that Wal-Mart may seem to be creating more plastic, it is also saving a lot of plastic from ending up in local landfills. In 2004 Wal-Mart initiated a new technology that saved 5,734 tons of plastic from landfills by 2005. They used a system called The Plastic Sandwich Bale; it utilizes the already existing cardboard balers by placing both cardboard and plastic in them to be recycled. Wal-Mart began this program with only 326 stores, but now implements it in almost all 50 states (wal-martfacts.com, 2005). This is just one of the ways that Wal-Mart has influence industry to work for the environment. Charles Fishman, author of the book “The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World's Most Powerful Company Really Works — and How it’s Transforming the American Economy”, also wrote about Wal-Mart’s ability to influence manufacturers,
“[Before the 1990’s]…nearly every brand and style of deodorant…came in a paperboard box. Wal-Mart, among other retailers, decided the paperboard box was a waste…With the kind of quiet but irresistible force that Wal-Mart can apply, the retailer asked deodorant makers to eliminate the box…The box turned out to cost about a nickel for every container of deodorant…Walk into a Wal-Mart today, and pause in the deodorant aisle…Not one box.”(Fishman, 2006, pps.1-2).
Wal-Mart not only contributes to the environment on a national level, but on a local level as well. Don, the assistant manager at Bemidji, MN’s Supercenter said that while all expired food from various departments must be thrown away, some damaged goods can be salvaged. Don said that when a damaged bag or can of dog or cat food is recovered it is placed in a drop box that can later be picked up by the local Humane Society (personal communication, April 8, 2006). While most Wal-Mart stores don’t have the capability of reusing expired food, some do. A new Eco-friendly Wal-Mart located in McKinney, TX, is paving the way for Supercenters across the nation.
“Food waste from the produce, deli, meat, and dairy departments is typically hauled to a landfill. In this experimental store, the food waste is separated from other grocery garbage. Since this is organic waste, it is hauled to a local commercial composting facility where it is processed and made into compost. The compost is then available for purchase in this and other stores decreasing the impact of organic waste on local landfills.”(walmartstores.com, 2006).
Aurora, CO, is also the home of an Experimental Wal-Mart Supercenter. Along with the innovative technologies instituted at the McKinney store, they have developed even more ways to reduce waste. By collecting the waste engine oil from the Tire and Lube Express and burning it in a waste-oil boiler Wal-Mart is able to heat the store and reduce the amount of natural gas it uses. This system saves enough natural gas to heat and provide hot water for 19 homes for an entire year. Wal-Mart uses this same technology with used cooking oil from fried foods. This also generates enough heat to provide heat and hot water for 19 homes for a single year (Environment-Experimental Stores, walmartstores.com, April 22, 2006). Wal-Mart has actually been recognized for it’s improvements with waste and was awarded the 2005 Waste News Environmental Award. This was the first year that the award was given and according to Waste News.com, “The award recognizes a company that Waste News editors believe made the most environmental progress in the way it operated in business in 2005.”(wastenews.com, 2005). Hopefully Wal-Mart will continue to move forward with its environmental progress in the years to come.
In the end Wal-Mart has made several good, and bad, contributions to the fields of waste and waste management. Hopefully because Wal-Mart is such a large corporation other Big Box retailers will be able to learn from their mistakes, and to also take a closer look at what Wal-Mart is doing to pave the way for the environment.
References
Contrada, F. State fines 4 retailers for violations. (Electronic version). (2005). The Republican. Retrieved April 11. 2006, from http://www.masslive.com/metrowest/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1123832815134070.xml&coll=1
Experimental Truck. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2006, from http://walmartstores.com/GlobalWMStoresWeb/navigate.do?catg=447
Fishman, C. (2006). The Wal-Mart Effect: How the world’s most powerful company really works- and How it’s transforming the American economy. Penguin Press. Pp 1-3.
Is Wal-Mart going green?. MSNBC. Updated Oct. 25, 2005. (no author) Retrieved April 3, 2006, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9815727/
McKinney Experimental Store. (n.d.). Retrieved on April 10, 2006, from http://walmartstores.com/GlobalWMStoresWeb/navigate.do?catg=445
Minnesota Community Impact. (no author) Updated December 28, 2004. Retrieved April 2, 2006, from http://www.walmartfacts.com/community/article.aspx?id=168
Peled. M. (Director, Producer, Filmmaker).(200_). Storewars: When Wal-Mart comes to town. Aired on PBS. (television station).
Wal-Mart is target of criminal probe over waste. USA TODAY. (n.d.) Retrieved April 2, 2006, from http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2005-12-20-walmart-hazardous_x.htm
Stone, K. (Speaker). (2006). Competing with the Retail Giants. (Presentation). April 11, 2006. Bemidji State University.
Trucking Fleets. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2006, from http://walmartstores.com/GlobalWMStoresWeb/navigate.do?catg=349
Wal-Mart Experimental Stores. (n.d.). Retrieved April 22, 2006, from http://walmartstores.com/Aurora/index.html
Wal-Mart Rolls Out the Plastic Sandwich Bale. (n.d.). Updated August 5, 2005. Retrieved April 2, 2006, from http://www.wal-martfacts.com/newsdesk/article.aspx?id=1279
Wal-Mart wins Waste News Environmental Award. Waste News. November 30,2005. December 5,2005. (article printed). Retrieved April 11, 2006, from http://www.wastenews.com/headlines2.html?id=1133375109
Wal-Mart’s Waste Management
Sarah Smythe
Bemidji State University
Honors 1105
Mengelkoch, Nielsen
April 23, 2006
It is hard to ignore Wal-Mart’s success in the retail world, especially since it is the world’s largest retail chain. Waste and waste management are an increasingly important topic, particularly when you have the capability of producing such a large amount of waste. With that in mind, it is important to identify what types of waste Wal-Mart is producing and what it is doing about it. Since Wal-Mart is such a large corporation it is easy to pick out their flaws, and accomplishments, but to understand how Wal-Mart is really doing with waste management comparing it to other large retail stores can give a more accurate picture; however, I will be mainly focusing on Wal-Mart.
Beginning research it was important to find out how much waste Wal-Mart produces; since the actual numbers and percentages aren’t available, defining what is considered waste helped create an image of how much they produce. Wal-Mart has several different sizes of stores, each carrying similar things. In Bemidji, MN, there is a Super Wal-Mart, so in my research I focused on this size store. On average a Wal-Mart Supercenter is 186,077 sq. ft. with approximately 116,000 items (Wal-MartFacts.com, April 2, 2006). Many of those items can eventually be turned into waste things like outdated food from the deli, meats, produce, bakery, or dairy sections, damaged goods, and packaging including cardboard and plastic that the pallets of goods are wrapped in. Another type of waste that Wal-Mart produces comes second hand, like fuel and exhaust from the huge fleet of trucks, used oil from the auto center, and building materials from the many Wal-Mart’s across the country. According to Wal-MartFacts.com there are 23 Supercenters in Minnesota alone, and Wal-Mart continues to open a new store every two business days according to the documentary by Micha Peled (Store Wars: When Wal-Mart Comes to Town [documentary] 200_). In a presentation given by Ken Stone, Professor Emeritus of Economics at Iowa State University, he reports that there are approximately 400 vacant Wal-Mart stores at any given time in the United States (Stone, 2006). With so many stores across the United States Wal-Mart has been known to make a few mistakes.
Just recently Wal-Mart has been under investigation for improper transporting of hazardous waste. Wal-Mart spokesperson Sarah Clark said goods including hair spray, paint, aerosol cans, and charcoal, are classified as hazardous.(USA Today, 2006, ¶3); these are things that most people would not recognize as being hazardous. Clark also said that the issue isn’t whether or not Wal-Mart disposed of the hazardous waste correctly, but regards how they transport it from their stores (¶5). According to Clark, “Wal-Mart typically loads returned merchandise onto trucks for transport to a return center, and then puts any hazardous material on special trucks to go to disposal sites.” (¶4) According to the government hazardous waste needs to be on a certified truck to begin with. Unfortunately this is not the only circumstance in which Wal-Mart has broken the law. Fred Contrada writes that at a Wal-Mart store in Massachusetts, “oil from a drum of waste oil leaked into the storm drains…Wal-Mart took steps to clean up the oil [the same day], but waited 13 hours before notifying the state.”, because of this and other incidents Wal-Mart was fined $8,000 (Contrada, 2005, ¶5) in the state of Massachusetts. Lately, Wal-Mart has been getting a lot of attention because their CEO, Lee Scott, has been promising some impressive things. In an article posted on MSNBC.com, “Is Wal-Mart going Green?” (2005), Lee Scott is reported as saying that Wal-Mart wants to become a “good steward for the environment” and to use only renewable energy sources and produce zero waste (¶2). Scott proposes spending $500 million a year on things like: improving fuel efficiency in the truck fleet, reducing energy used by stores, and cutting down solid waste created by Wal-Mart (¶4). While he doesn’t give any specifics on how Wal-Mart is planning on accomplishing this, his promises already seem too good to be true. While talking with the local owner/operator of the Transfer Station in Bemidji, MN, John Magnuson, he said that “zero waste is impossible” (personal communication, April 10,2006); there will always be something that can be improved upon, but some waste just can’t be avoided. Magnuson gave a rather startling example of how much waste the town of Bemidji produces in a year. He said that if you take all of the waste from Beltrami County, and loaded up Magnuson trucks completely full; those trucks could line up end-to-end for 40 miles. Magnuson also said that about 40 percent of all of the waste that comes to the transfer station is from commercial businesses, although he was unsure of how much came from Wal-Mart.
Fortunately, there is some good being done. One of the ways that Wal-Mart is trying to cut back on their waste is by creating a more efficient truck. According to information found on Wal-Mart.com, Wal-Mart has one of the largest trucking fleets in the world. In order to make their trucks more environmentally friendly, they are changing their design. By adding wind skirts under the trailer of the truck, they are able to reduce wind resistance and save on fuel, also by creating a more aerodynamic tractor, wind resistance is decreased, and fuel is saved. Wal-Martstores.com says that nearly “two-thirds of all gallons burnt today by trucks can be attributed to overcoming aerodynamic resistance.” (wal-martstores.com, 2006). Wal-Mart also claims, on its official website, that, “…we currently have over 100 hybrid vehicles in operation and have requested another 100 for 2007.”(wal-martstores.com, 2006). This may sound impressive but, upon further review, this has come up lacking. In Minnesota alone Wal-Mart employs 18,381 associates as of January, 2006 (wal-martfacts.com, 2006); comparing 200 corporate hybrid cars to 18,381 associates doesn’t seem as impressive. This isn’t the only statement Wal-Mart has made that seems too good to be true. Andy Abello, Store Manager of Bemidji, MN, Super Wal-Mart, said that because Wal-Mart is such a large corporation they have the opportunity to work directly with merchandisers to create a more environmentally friendly product. Abello said that by working with the ALL brand laundry detergent company they were able to create a product that was more concentrated and therefore needed less packaging. By removing all of the water from the ALL brand laundry detergent, the bottle size decreased by half; this type of improvement creates more shelf space, saves landfill space, and saves fuel during shipping (personal communication, March 29, 2006). When asked John Magnuson, local Transfer station owner, explained why this new plastic bottle saves so much fuel; he said that because the container is smaller you can fit more bottles per load, which creates fewer loads to deliver. In turn, because plastic weighs less, it uses less fuel to transport the goods. However, Magnuson also knew of a downside to new plastic materials, he said that plastic is still very hard to recycle. Given the example of a plastic pop bottle, Magnuson said that the bottle is actually three types of plastic: the bottle, the lid, and the label; all of the plastic is hard to separate, and it is all a different consistency, making it hard to process once it is separated (personal communication, April 10, 2006).
Besides, even though the ALL brand created a smaller package, because the solution inside is more concentrated, it may actually be more harmful to the environment; it also seems that Wal-Mart wasn’t making these changes for environment reasons, but for financial savings for themselves. Even though Wal-Mart may have some questionable motives, there are some things that can’t be overlooked, because despite the fact that Wal-Mart may seem to be creating more plastic, it is also saving a lot of plastic from ending up in local landfills. In 2004 Wal-Mart initiated a new technology that saved 5,734 tons of plastic from landfills by 2005. They used a system called The Plastic Sandwich Bale; it utilizes the already existing cardboard balers by placing both cardboard and plastic in them to be recycled. Wal-Mart began this program with only 326 stores, but now implements it in almost all 50 states (wal-martfacts.com, 2005). This is just one of the ways that Wal-Mart has influence industry to work for the environment. Charles Fishman, author of the book “The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World's Most Powerful Company Really Works — and How it’s Transforming the American Economy”, also wrote about Wal-Mart’s ability to influence manufacturers,
“[Before the 1990’s]…nearly every brand and style of deodorant…came in a paperboard box. Wal-Mart, among other retailers, decided the paperboard box was a waste…With the kind of quiet but irresistible force that Wal-Mart can apply, the retailer asked deodorant makers to eliminate the box…The box turned out to cost about a nickel for every container of deodorant…Walk into a Wal-Mart today, and pause in the deodorant aisle…Not one box.”(Fishman, 2006, pps.1-2).
Wal-Mart not only contributes to the environment on a national level, but on a local level as well. Don, the assistant manager at Bemidji, MN’s Supercenter said that while all expired food from various departments must be thrown away, some damaged goods can be salvaged. Don said that when a damaged bag or can of dog or cat food is recovered it is placed in a drop box that can later be picked up by the local Humane Society (personal communication, April 8, 2006). While most Wal-Mart stores don’t have the capability of reusing expired food, some do. A new Eco-friendly Wal-Mart located in McKinney, TX, is paving the way for Supercenters across the nation.
“Food waste from the produce, deli, meat, and dairy departments is typically hauled to a landfill. In this experimental store, the food waste is separated from other grocery garbage. Since this is organic waste, it is hauled to a local commercial composting facility where it is processed and made into compost. The compost is then available for purchase in this and other stores decreasing the impact of organic waste on local landfills.”(walmartstores.com, 2006).
Aurora, CO, is also the home of an Experimental Wal-Mart Supercenter. Along with the innovative technologies instituted at the McKinney store, they have developed even more ways to reduce waste. By collecting the waste engine oil from the Tire and Lube Express and burning it in a waste-oil boiler Wal-Mart is able to heat the store and reduce the amount of natural gas it uses. This system saves enough natural gas to heat and provide hot water for 19 homes for an entire year. Wal-Mart uses this same technology with used cooking oil from fried foods. This also generates enough heat to provide heat and hot water for 19 homes for a single year (Environment-Experimental Stores, walmartstores.com, April 22, 2006). Wal-Mart has actually been recognized for it’s improvements with waste and was awarded the 2005 Waste News Environmental Award. This was the first year that the award was given and according to Waste News.com, “The award recognizes a company that Waste News editors believe made the most environmental progress in the way it operated in business in 2005.”(wastenews.com, 2005). Hopefully Wal-Mart will continue to move forward with its environmental progress in the years to come.
In the end Wal-Mart has made several good, and bad, contributions to the fields of waste and waste management. Hopefully because Wal-Mart is such a large corporation other Big Box retailers will be able to learn from their mistakes, and to also take a closer look at what Wal-Mart is doing to pave the way for the environment.
References
Contrada, F. State fines 4 retailers for violations. (Electronic version). (2005). The Republican. Retrieved April 11. 2006, from http://www.masslive.com/metrowest/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1123832815134070.xml&coll=1
Experimental Truck. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2006, from http://walmartstores.com/GlobalWMStoresWeb/navigate.do?catg=447
Fishman, C. (2006). The Wal-Mart Effect: How the world’s most powerful company really works- and How it’s transforming the American economy. Penguin Press. Pp 1-3.
Is Wal-Mart going green?. MSNBC. Updated Oct. 25, 2005. (no author) Retrieved April 3, 2006, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9815727/
McKinney Experimental Store. (n.d.). Retrieved on April 10, 2006, from http://walmartstores.com/GlobalWMStoresWeb/navigate.do?catg=445
Minnesota Community Impact. (no author) Updated December 28, 2004. Retrieved April 2, 2006, from http://www.walmartfacts.com/community/article.aspx?id=168
Peled. M. (Director, Producer, Filmmaker).(200_). Storewars: When Wal-Mart comes to town. Aired on PBS. (television station).
Wal-Mart is target of criminal probe over waste. USA TODAY. (n.d.) Retrieved April 2, 2006, from http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2005-12-20-walmart-hazardous_x.htm
Stone, K. (Speaker). (2006). Competing with the Retail Giants. (Presentation). April 11, 2006. Bemidji State University.
Trucking Fleets. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2006, from http://walmartstores.com/GlobalWMStoresWeb/navigate.do?catg=349
Wal-Mart Experimental Stores. (n.d.). Retrieved April 22, 2006, from http://walmartstores.com/Aurora/index.html
Wal-Mart Rolls Out the Plastic Sandwich Bale. (n.d.). Updated August 5, 2005. Retrieved April 2, 2006, from http://www.wal-martfacts.com/newsdesk/article.aspx?id=1279
Wal-Mart wins Waste News Environmental Award. Waste News. November 30,2005. December 5,2005. (article printed). Retrieved April 11, 2006, from http://www.wastenews.com/headlines2.html?id=1133375109
posted by Louise Mengelkoch at
12:34 PM
