Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Bentonville, AR, is poised to do for sustainable packaging processes and materials what it is already doing for RFID package tagging: fostering widespread industry interest in and commitment to the notion.

The idea of running any kind of business – particularly a manufacturing one – without consuming energy or generating waste is a radical one… far fetched, some would say. But not Wal-Mart. And, whatever the world’s largest retailer commits itself to, will inevitably become marching orders for its suppliers and ripple beyond, to manufacturers around the globe.

After a year-long study of fresh cut produce packaging made from corn-based polylactic acid (PLA) resin, Wal-Mart in the coming weeks will rollout fresh cut fruit, herbs, strawberries and Brussels sprouts in the bio-plastic. Switching just four products sold in Sam’s Club stores and Wal-Mart Super Centers from conventional plastics to PLA represents 100 million containers/year.

“With this change to packaging made from corn we will save the equivalent of 800,000 gallons of gasoline and reduce more than 11 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions from polluting our environment,” says Matt Kistler, vp Product Development/Private Brands for Sam’s Club. NatureWorks LLC, Minnetonka, MN, produces the PLA resin from which the thermoformed PLA containers are made. Wilkinson Industries, Inc., Fort Calhoun, NE; Pack & Proper Co., Ltd., Taoyuan, Taiwan, and Leading Industry, Inc., Oxnard, CA produce the PLA containers. Wal-Mart’s phased rollout calls for cut vegetables, tomatoes and donuts to switch to NatureWorks PLA containers by year’s end. Paper/extruded PLA film bread bags from Plastic Suppliers, Columbus, OH are also due to hit Wal-Mart shelves before the end of the year.

Wal-Mart isn’t the first company to commit to sustainable packaging. It is the largest. And, with more than 21,000 suppliers in tow, its ability to mandate a market for sustainable packaging is without parallel.

- Ben Miyares