Walmart – Xuecong Pu – 2023

Goals

Walmart China aims to increase food waste diversion rate by converting more food waste into animal feed. This initiative seeks to reduce food waste at its 45 distribution centers across the country and decrease the company’s Scope 3 carbon emissions throughout its operations. Meanwhile, it endeavors to provide a new perspective for the country’s retail industry, promoting the transformation of waste to animal feed as an environmentally responsible and sustainable practice.

Solutions

Xuecong Pu conducted the feasibility study mainly from the following three aspects:

• Search for technology support: He reviewed technical specifications and papers related to the diversion of waste to feed. Based on this information, He identified potential food waste categories in stores and compiled an inventory for further review.
• Investigate market availability: He identified potential suppliers specializing in renewable resource recycling and environmental technology. Meanwhile, he created a WebGIS document displaying the locations of Walmart’s DCs and target suppliers, along with the shortest transportation distances between them.
• Evaluate relevant policies: He analyzed the country’s laws, regulations, and standards directly or indirectly related to food waste and animal feed. He concluded that current policies are in favor of Walmart China’s project.

Potential Impact

In the Chinese market, converting food waste into animal feed is a triple-win. The animal feed project in the planning stage is estimated to fully utilize 1435 metric tonnes of food waste from Walmart China’s distribution centers over a six-month period, which is equivalent to offsetting at least 767.6 metric tons of CO2e emissions.

The shift from waste to feed aligns with Walmart China’s missions of carbon reduction and regenerative transition. Furthermore, it complies with China’s anti-food waste regulations and will deliver significant environmental, economic, and social benefits.