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Worldwise and Walmart Closing the Loop in Pursuit of Zero Waste RILA Case Study – 10-12-11

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•  Walmart’s/Sam’s Club senior management has been encouraging suppliers to ‘raise the bar’ in sustainability

•  Worldwise proposed to Walmart they utilize Walmart’s waste as raw materials in the products they make and sell back to them

•  After extensive research, four (4) key Walmart waste materials were identified that could be made into new Walmart products:

Bottles Bags Corrugated Hangers

Raising The Bar by Closing the Loop

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Waste = Food: How The Program Works

•  Like most retailers, Walmart and Sam’s Club utilizes a lot of bottles, bags, corrugated cardboard and hangers

•  These materials are collected in various locations in the stores/clubs by associates and customers

•  Super Sandwich Bales are created in each store/club, transported to a Material Recovery Facility (MRF), and sorted at the MRFs into material specific bales

•  Worldwise picks up the bales, cleans and processes them, and makes them into a variety of new items that Walmart sells to its customers

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Benefits of “Closing the Loop”

•  Walmart/Sam’s Club earns revenue for selling the “raw materials” to Worldwise

•  Consumers get a better deal because of lower or more stable pricing (in a rising commodity cost environment)

•  After initial investments are recovered, Worldwise should eventually benefit from lower raw material/processing cost, enabling the company to lower its prices

•  Shorter transportation distances lower carbon footprint

•  Jobs are created in North America

•  Customers and associates feel good knowing they’re part of the solution

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What Was The Process? •  In order to generate and keep the momentum moving forward,

Worldwise engaged a wide variety of:

•  Worldwise staff from around the globe

•  associates at Walmart, including individuals and teams from over 10 different departments (executives, operations, merchandising, legal, sustainability, marketing, public relations, walmart.com, and more)

•  supply chain partners (recycling partners, material recovery facilities, cleaners and processers)

•  materials experts (to overcome processing and manufacturing challenges)

•  additional stakeholders (environmental groups, activists, etc)

•  members of the media (television, newspapers, magazines, blogs, etc)

•  Waste materials were identified, supply chain operations analyzed, processing systems developed, tracking systems created, new items manufactured, new packaging instituted, and a comprehensive integrated marketing plan developed and executed

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What Did We Learn? •  Utilizing a partners ‘waste’ is a considered the ’holy grail’ by many

environmentalist for a reason – it isn’t always easy!

•  While you must have one person own the result, getting the right individuals and teams motivated and committed with “co-ownership” makes it possible to overcome the inevitable issues

•  There are a variety of unanticipated challenges when dealing with a partners waste and supply chain – including mixed materials, contamination, variability in load production, and more – but they can be overcome

•  Creative thinking and innovation is critical when approaching supply chain partnerships, manufacturing processes, marketing, and retail merchandising opportunities

•  There is tremendous excitement generated by consumers, environmental groups, the media and other stakeholders when programs of this nature are executed

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Who Cares?

•  “Closed Loop” models are widely regarded as an important part of the zero waste solution

•  Closed loop solutions can provide a variety of benefits for partners, customers and stakeholders – including cost savings (for all parties) and happier customers

•  By thinking about the entire supply chain – from design through raw material extraction, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, consumer use and disposal (or recycling) – you will uncover numerous opportunities

•  By thinking creatively, you can likely turn former expenses into profit… a true win-win-win-win for you, your suppliers, customers and our environment

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Key Collaborative Practices

•  Creating a compelling vision of the future and passionately ‘selling’ it to a wide variety of constituents and stakeholders isn’t easy – but is critical

•  Helping individuals understand why the opportunity is important not just to the organization – but themselves and their careers – is very important

•  Developing the right network of experience speeds the process and lessens the challenges

•  While senior level support isn’t an absolute necessity, it will motivate most in the organization and make your life a lot easier

•  If it’s the right thing to do, don’t give up just because you hear ‘no’ the first time

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•  For more information contact:

•  Aaron Lamstein, Board of Director (alamstein@worldwise.com) •  Matt Turmbull, CEO (mturnbull@worldwise.com)

•  Worldwise, Inc. 160 Mitchell Boulevard San Rafael, CA 94903

415-721-7400 (Main Number) 415-526-8254 (Aaron direct phone) 415-526-8304 (Matt direct phone)