Walmart and Sam’s Club Enhance Sustainability With New Tech and Partnerships

Walmart and Sam’s Club released a news report explaining how the entire company will be implementing new technology and processes to boost operational efficiency and reduce food waste. The Zero Depack program is their new primary initiative that aims to simplify the removal of expired food from its packaging, making recycling more efficient and improving the sustainability of waste management.

According to the press release, “When food waste is picked up from participating Walmart stores or Sam’s Clubs by Denali, it begins its journey to a potential new life, including converting unsalable items into useful biosolids for multiple farming applications. For example, anything from a big compost pile to food for livestock. While the precise output will depend on the nature of the original material, our collaboration with Denali will help keep this waste out of landfills.”

In collaboration with Denali, a premier organic materials recycler, Walmart is implementing cutting-edge “depackaging” technology across over 1,400 retail locations, including Walmart stores and Sam’s Clubs. This state-of-the-art system automates the segregation of organic waste from packaging materials, achieving up to 97% efficiency and markedly diminishing the time required by associates for waste management tasks.

The segregated organic waste is subsequently converted into valuable by-products such as compost and livestock feed. This process not only aids Walmart in advancing its sustainability targets but also significantly curtails landfill contributions. It also enhances the efficiency of waste processing and reinforces Walmart’s long-term environmental stewardship, delivering benefits to associates, communities, and the ecosystem at large.

Moreover, Walmart is enhancing its grocery distribution network with a significant investment in technology and automation. The company is building five new high-tech perishable distribution centers across various states, creating around 2,000 jobs and improving supply chain efficiency. Additionally, Walmart is expanding automation at four existing centers to increase fresh product capacity by over 500,000 square feet per site. Existing facilities, like one in Winter Haven, Florida, are being retrofitted with advanced technology to standardize operations.

This modernization aims to boost storage capacity and processing speed, meeting growing customer demands more effectively. Walmart emphasizes that these technological advancements will transform associates’ roles from manual tasks to higher-tech positions, offering improved job satisfaction and career growth.