In the final keynote address at PACK EXPO International 2006, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., released a packaging scorecard to continue its commitment of reducing packaging across its global supply chain by 5 percent by 2013, helping Wal-Mart and its suppliers improve packaging and conserve resources.

The company first announced this packaging initiative at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City in September 2006 but did not reveal the specific metrics until the PACK EXPO keynote session with a speech entitled, "The Wal-Mart/Sam's Club Packaging Vision."

Wal-Mart's packaging scorecard is a measurement tool that allows suppliers to evaluate themselves relative to other suppliers, based on specific metrics. The metrics in the scorecard evolved from a list of favorable attributes announced earlier this year, known as the "7 R's of Packaging:" Remove, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Renew, Revenue, and Read. Through months of consultations, the Packaging Sustainable Value Network, a group of 200 leaders in the global packaging industry, including suppliers, experts, and internal and external stakeholders, outlined the following metrics for the packaging scorecard:

1. 15% will be based on GHG/CO2 per ton of Production

2. 15% will be based on Material Value

3. 15% will be based on Product/Package Ratio

4. 15% will be based on Cube Utilization

5. 10% will be based on Transportation

6. 10% will be based on Recycled Content

7. 10% will be based on Recovery Value

8. 5% will be based on Renewable Energy

9. 5% will be based on Innovation

To hear an audio version of the keynote address and Q&A session at PACK EXPO International, click on the following link and scroll down the page to the "Related Resources" section: http://www.walmartfacts.com/articles/4564.aspx.

Please fast forward to minute 8:22 to hear the introductory video and the speech in its entirety.