Is Wal-Mart Tops in Cleantech?

Wal-Mart is the world’s largest retailer by revenue, and while it has often been criticized for its labor policies (among other things) it has recently received kudos for its sustainability efforts. Watershed Capital's Shawn Lesser believes that Wal-Mart is a model for other for other corporations in this area.

Wal-Mart has "saved $3 billion a year by reducing packaging size on all its products," he says. It has "installed electrical generators in its refrigerated trucks to cut down on engine idling." With more than 100,000 suppliers,Wal-Mart has unprecidented scale with which to change the face of sustainability across its supply chain.

In Wal-Mart's annual sustainability report, the company claims to have:

• Improved energy efficiency by 25-30% in model stores versus existing units
• Reduced plastic bag waste by nearly 48 million pounds
• Saved $20 million a year by reducing printouts of store reports
• Reduced its overall carbon emissions rate by 16% from ’05 to ’08.
• Donated over a million pounds of food to food banks each year.

Wal-Mart will continue to have its challenges and its critics, but for now, its environmental efforts deserve some applause. Shareholders should be similarly pleased by increased efficiency, lower energy costs and its even stronger competitive position.  Read about the other Dow30 constituents at Clean Techies.com