Wal-Mart to Add Environmental Sustainability Scorecard to Electronics

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) released criteria that will be part of a scorecard used to evaluate consumer electronics suppliers on the environmental sustainability of their products. Starting in 2008, Wal-Mart will ask suppliers to fill out the scorecard and buyers will have the option to use the scorecard results to influence purchasing decisions. The announcement reflects the larger company strategy to sell products that sustain natural resources and minimize impact on the environment.

Next year, Wal-Mart will ask electronics suppliers to fill out a scorecard that will assess the sustainability of their product. The scorecard will evaluate electronics on energy efficiency, durability, upgradability, end-of- life solutions, and the size of the package containing the product. Products will also be evaluated on their ability to use innovative materials that reduce the amount of hazardous substances, such as lead and cadmium, contained in the product. The end result is a score that shows suppliers where improvements can be made and allows Wal-Mart to evaluate the environmental sustainability of the product.

I like this idea of an environmental scorecard for consumer electronics a lot. It gives consumers the ability to compare products on environmental attributes and it gives suppliers goals to shoot for. Of course the devil is always in the details, so I would like to know more about what exactly is going to be in the scorecard.

via PR Newswire via EcoIron