“With the world’s population expected to reach 9 billion people by 2050, the global waste problem is expected to grow as well, unless we change course. The World Bank estimated that the world produced 3.5 million tons of solid waste per day in 2010, and that amount is projected to double by 2025. That’s not simply a lot of trash, it’s a lot of lost value – as much as $2.6 trillion annually in raw materials and residual worth. Landfill waste is a double loss: wasted product, and wasted natural resources to produce the product in the first place. The world can’t afford to use up water, forests, food, minerals, fossil fuels or any natural resource in this way.”

“At Walmart, we’ve been attempting to reduce waste in our operations because we hate waste of any kind. Waste increases costs for our customers, our business and for society. As millions of tons of food, other products and packaging flow through our facilities every year, we aim not to generate any waste in the process of getting things to customers. And if we can’t sell a product, we don’t want it to wind up in a waste stream; we’d prefer to donate it, recycle it or reuse it in some way. To date, we have made good progress – by the end of 2015, Walmart U.S. achieved 82 percent diversion of materials from landfill and diverted an average of 71 percent in international markets.”

“Accordingly, we have extended our zero waste aspiration to include the whole supply chain, from farming and manufacturing, consumption to end of life. Working with suppliers, customers, nonprofit organizations and others, we’re drawing on our strengths – such as our store and logistics infrastructure, our philanthropy and our connection to customers – to pursue practical initiatives that will start to build a more circular economy. To this end, we’re asking suppliers to design products with more recycled content, and with reuse and recyclability in mind. We’re returning waste materials to the production stream by taking back certain products from customers and helping suppliers convert waste. We’re also collaborating with suppliers and the Walmart Foundation to encourage communities to invest in recycling infrastructure through the Closed Loop Fund and other initiatives.”