At Walmart’s 2019 Packaging Innovation Summit, Walmart unveiled an updated version of its Recycling Playbook, which the company first introduced in February 2019. The Innovation Summit will convene more than 350 suppliers, associates and innovators to advance common goals around recyclable packaging, recycled content, compostable materials, and innovative reusable models and delivery.
Walmart developed its Recycling Playbook to be a supplemental resource for companies setting recyclable packaging and recycled content goals. The document, which is broken up by packaging format, focuses on the most common packaging formats found in Walmart stores. For each major packaging format, the Playbook captures recyclability information based on existing infrastructure, with a specific focus on North America. This is all part of Walmart’s efforts to break down barriers by providing educational tools to inspire action. Walmart collaborated with Pure Strategies, The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), and the Sustainable Packaging Coalition to develop the Playbook. Highlights include:
- Walmart Recycle Together: On Saturday, November 16th, just a day after America Recycles Day, Walmart will pilot its Walmart Recycle Together program in 113 stores across New Jersey and Massachusetts. The program aims to inspire Walmart customers to take action to reduce plastic waste by recycling at home, or in their local communities, and educate customers about what can and can’t be recycled in order to clean the recycling stream. As part of this initiative, Walmart created an in-store and digital campaign to engage customers on what and how to recycle packaging; enlisted key suppliers who are using the How2Recycle label; and will feature products that are labeled for easy customer recycling.
- Brand Collaborations. Walmart is collaborating with brands to educate consumers on recycling best practices. For example, Unilever’s national “Bring It to the Bin” program , which launched at Walmart’s 2019 Sustainability Milestone meeting, encourages customers to recycle their personal care products, especially in the bathroom.