Walmart recently released its eleventh annual Global Responsibility Report (GRR), highlighting the company’s progress and accomplishments in fiscal year 2018 to increase economic opportunity, enhance sustainability of supply chains and strengthen local communities. To become the most trusted retailer in a way that creates value for business and society, Walmart works in partnership with suppliers, NGOs, thought leaders and elected officials to positively impact entire systems.
This title may scream fake news to many of you. Yet it is true, and particularly relevant given the latest efforts to ban the plastic straw. A 2016 study found that replacing plastics in packaging and consumer products could raise environmental costs nearly fourfold. This is because strong, lightweight plastics help us do more with less material, providing environmental benefits throughout the lifecycle of plastic products and packaging. The study also concludes that the environmental costs of alternative materials can be lower per ton of production but are greater in aggregate due to the much larger quantities of material needed to fulfill the same purposes as plastics.
