Walmart’s commitment to making all its private-label packaging 100% recyclable, reusable, or compostable by 2025 is pushing manufacturers and other retailers into similar stances.
The move pushes not only Walmart itself but also its extensive network of suppliers to innovate and improve their packaging processes. The company has been collaborating with various stakeholders, including suppliers, to ensure that new packaging designs not only reduce waste but also maintain product integrity and consumer appeal.
As one of the world's largest retailers, the company wields enormous influence over its suppliers, pushing for a transition toward sustainable practices.
Despite these ambitious initiatives, Walmart faces several challenges in achieving its packaging goals. The complexity of its supply chain and the diverse range of products it sells make it difficult to standardize sustainable packaging across the board. Additionally, the cost of transitioning to greener materials can be a barrier for some suppliers, particularly smaller businesses that may not have the financial flexibility to invest in new packaging technologies. However, Walmart’s sheer size and influence mean that even incremental changes can have a significant impact on the broader packaging landscape.
Walmart’s push for sustainable packaging has created a ripple effect across the retail industry. Competitors and suppliers alike are being pushed to reevaluate their packaging strategies in order to meet the rising demand for eco-friendly products. The company’s efforts also reflect broader consumer trends, with increasing numbers of shoppers prioritizing sustainability in their purchasing decisions.
While the technology and materials needed to reduce plastic waste exist, scaling them up to meet the demands of a global business is a complex and costly process.
The use of biodegradable materials is seen by many in the industry as a key solution to the problem of plastic waste, particularly for single-use packaging items like candy wrappers. Several other CPG companies, including Nestlé and Bacardi, are working to develop biodegradable plastic alternatives. For example, Bacardi has pledged to make all of its bottles from biodegradable plastic by 2023.
In early 2021, General Mills introduced fully recyclable plastic wrappers for its popular Nature Valley granola bars, a first for the snack bar category. The wrappers, made from advanced polyethylene polymers, are designed to maintain product freshness while being compatible with existing recycling systems.
General Mills’ decision to make its recyclable wrapper technology available to other food brands, without filing for a patent. This collaborative approach stands in contrast to traditional competitive business strategies, where intellectual property is often guarded to maintain a competitive edge.
Coca-Cola has long been a target for environmental groups due to its significant use of plastic packaging. In response to growing pressure, the company set an ambitious goal to have 25% of its beverage sales come from reusable containers by 2030. However, a recent report by the environmental organization Oceana indicates Coca-Cola’s use of reusable packaging actually declined between 2020 and 2022. The Oceana report estimates that if Coca-Cola was to achieve its goal, it could prevent the production of more than 100 billion 500-milliliter single-use plastic bottles.
Despite these setbacks, Coca-Cola has made some progress in other areas of packaging sustainability, including testing a Sprite bottle without labels to simplify the recycling process. In 2022, it switched its iconic green Sprite bottles to clear PET plastic, which is easier to recycle.
PepsiCo has faced similar challenges in its quest to reduce plastic waste. The company’s 2023 Environmental, Social, and Governance report revealed that its use of virgin plastic in packaging had actually increased, partly due to the limited availability and high cost of recycled materials.
This mirrors Coca-Cola’s struggles, highlighting the systemic challenges faced by the entire beverage industry in reducing its reliance on single-use plastics.
Mondelez International, the maker of popular snacks such as Oreo, Ritz, and Cadbury, has also committed to reducing its environmental impact through packaging innovation. In 2021, the company announced a target to reduce its use of virgin plastic in rigid packaging by 25% by 2025.
Additionally, Mondelez has pledged to eliminate unnecessary plastic material, increase its use of recycled content, and adopt reuse models for its product portfolio. Mondelez’s progress, however, has been hindered by the limited availability of recycled materials and the high cost of sustainable packaging.
Currently, 94% of Mondelez’s packaging is designed to be recyclable, a figure that the company aims to increase further in the coming years.
Mars Wrigley has partnered with Danimer Scientific to develop biodegradable packaging for its Skittles candy. The biodegradable material, known as Nodax polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), is derived from plant oils and is designed to break down naturally in the environment.
This partnership marks a significant step forward for Mars Wrigley, which has committed to making 100% of its packaging reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2025.
Biodegradable plastics tend to be more expensive than traditional materials derived from petrochemicals. Danimer Scientific sells its biodegradable materials at a higher price point, about $2 per pound compared to $1 per pound for traditional plastic.
As more CPG companies seek to reduce their use of single-use plastics, partnerships like this one are likely to become more common.
The success of biodegradable packaging will depend on the industry’s ability to scale these materials and ensure that they can be disposed of properly. Biodegradable plastics only break down in certain conditions, such as industrial composting facilities, and without the necessary infrastructure, these materials could end up in landfills where they do not decompose as intended. For Mars Wrigley and others, addressing these challenges will be critical to the long-term success of their sustainable packaging efforts.
However, while recyclable packaging is a step in the right direction, its success depends largely on consumer behavior and the availability of recycling infrastructure. In the United States, for example, many municipalities do not accept flexible plastic films in curbside recycling programs, which means consumers must take these materials to specialized drop-off locations. General Mills has partnered with organizations like The Recycling Partnership to educate consumers about how to recycle its Nature Valley wrappers, but the success of these efforts will depend on widespread consumer participation.
The ultimate goal of many of these packaging initiatives is to create a circular economy in which packaging materials are reused and recycled, rather than being discarded as waste. Achieving this goal will require not only innovation in packaging materials but also improvements in recycling infrastructure and greater collaboration between businesses, governments, and consumers.
Moreover, while the new wrappers can be recycled, there is still the question of whether they will be. According to a 2019 report by the Hartman Group, 70% of U.S. consumers want to reduce plastic waste but do not know how.
Iconic toy company Lego’s commitment to sustainability goes beyond packaging; the company is focused on reducing the environmental impact of the products themselves. In recent years, Lego has been working to reduce its environmental footprint by transitioning to more sustainable materials for its products.
In its 2023 sustainability progress report, Lego announced that 18% of the resin it purchased for its toy bricks was made from sustainable sources. The company aims to increase this figure to 30% by the end of 2024.
Lego has also been testing over 600 new material grades to find sustainable alternatives for its toy bricks, demonstrating its commitment to innovation in product design as well as packaging.
