Kitty Litter, Sam's Club and My Handy Phone

Call me crazy, but I was relieved my phone could take a picture of kitty litter at Sam’s Club. I don’t take a purse to Sam’s; just the card wallet in one pocket, keys and phone in the other pocket of my jeans. Yesterday I was on a mission for kitty litter when a great looking pallet of stacked litter buckets caught my eye. It was a picture I wanted, but no camera. Finally I used my phone for one of its “features.”

The point about the litter stack was the packaging. On March 2, I’ll be at the “Sustainability in Packaging Conference” in Orlando, where representatives from large global corporations will share the latest talk and technology on packaging for reducing green house gas emissions, landfill waste and fuel consumption.

Last year companies attending had the most interest in learning about how the newly released Wal-Mart Scorecard would change their business. Back in 2006, Wal-Mart launched its commitment to reduce by 5% the amount of packaging passing through the retail behemoth’s global chain. The scorecard would become the tool the company used to initiate change. The metrics in the scorecard evolved from a list known as the “7 R’s of Packaging”: Remove, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Renew, Revenue, and Read.

In February of 2007, Wal-Mart distributed the scorecard to more than 60,000 of its suppliers worldwide. Last year in February 2008, they began using the packaging scorecard to determine which suppliers would continue in its supply chain. Determination was based upon a company’s ability to use less packaging, use more effective materials in packaging, and obtain these materials more efficiently.

How is it graded?
· 15% will be based on Green House Gas / CO2 per ton of Production
· 15% will be based on Material Value
· 15% will be based on Product / Package Ratio
· 15% will be based on Cube Utilization
· 10% will be based on Transportation
· 10% will be based on Recycled Content
· 10% will be based on Recovery Value
· 5% will be based on Renewable Energy
· 5% will be based on Innovation

What does the score mean?
Like a student’s score on a standard achievement test, suppliers will receive a score in each category that is measured against other suppliers' performance. For example, a supplier may find it is in the 50th percentile for effectively using space in pallets and shipping containers, but that same supplier may only be in the 20th percentile in Recycled Content. This model gives suppliers the opportunity to focus on specific changes that ultimately drive constant change and improvement in the supply chain.

How did my purchase score?
The litter “cube” on the pallet in my store looked concisely packed to me, although I’d like to see the scorecard percentile rating. Is this in the 30 or 80 percentile when ranked with other kitty litter suppliers?

Large containers of litter are not uncommon, but for other products, the topic of bulk-sized container is a new aspect. How big can a jug of liquid laundry detergent grow and still be usable? One container for a larger amount is better than 4 smaller containers that require more natural resources to create and more fuel to ship because the container itself adds weight to the shipment.

On closer look, the recycle number for the litter bucket is #5, which is Polypropylene. Many recycling centers will not take #5. Hmm. How’d they rate on Recovery Value?

Thanks to my phone I can share the photo. As for the kitty litter - - I bought some. I rate it with one thumb up for being chemical free, herbal scented, made of natural clay, and having convenient bulk packaging. The thumb that’s not up is with the rest of my fingers covering my nose while I cough from the dust.

Sustainability in Packaging Conference

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