Sustainability

President of Ikea USA Mike Ward is scheduled to keynote this year’s Retail Sustainability Conference, which will run from Monday, Sept. 30 to Thursday, Oct. 3 in Orlando, Fla. 

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. — Unilever United States and Canada has achieved 100% zero waste to landfill in all 26 of its manufacturing and non-manufacturing headquarter facilities. Other countries in which Unilever has achieved this milestone include the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, Germany and Japan.

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Office Depot will team up with ICLEI–Local Governments for Sustainability to expand the National Green Business Challenge, a program that encourages local businesses to take part in a friendly competition to save energy and money, reduce waste and water consumption and procure greener products. 

The program was first piloted in 2010 as the City of Chicago’s "Green Office Challenge."

Perryville, Md. -- Ikea said Tuesday it has plugged-in the solar energy system installed at its distribution center in Perryville, Md.
 
The 768,972-sq.-ft. PV array consists of a 2,674.9-kW system, built with 18,576 panels, and is the state’s largest rooftop array.

The Ikea distribution center will produce approximately 3,397,178 kWh of clean electricity annually, the equivalent of reducing 2,397 tons of carbon dioxide, eliminating the emissions of 499 cars or powering 359 homes yearly.  
 

Bentonville, Ark. -- In its Global Sustainability Milestone Meeting on Monday, Walmart announced new commitments the retailer says will dramatically increase energy efficiency and renewables, and hasten its path toward being 100% supplied by renewable energy.

Walmart president and CEO Mike Duke outlined specific goals the company said it intends to achieve by Dec. 31, 2020:

PERRYVILLE, Md. — Ikea has plugged-in the solar energy system installed at its distribution center in Perryville, Md. 

CINCINNATI — A major initiative unveiled by Kroger could have the retailer’s suppliers scrambling to ensure palm oil used in products the retailer carries are obtained from sources who meet strict harvesting guidelines.

Kroger issued the following policy statement:

Palm oil has become the world's leading oil crop and today accounts for roughly one-third of the global vegetable oil production. This oil has grown in popularity within the food industry as a cooking oil, shortening, margarine, milk-fat replacer, and as a cocoa-butter substitute.

New York -- Walmart is eyeing greater energy efficiency and less reliance on fossil fuels as key drivers of its low cost, low price business model.