{"id":3116,"date":"2014-02-27T09:36:15","date_gmt":"2014-02-27T14:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/?p=3116"},"modified":"2014-03-25T10:08:47","modified_gmt":"2014-03-25T15:08:47","slug":"putting-words-into-action-walmart-releases-detailed-plans-to-implement-its-chemical-policy-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/2014\/02\/27\/putting-words-into-action-walmart-releases-detailed-plans-to-implement-its-chemical-policy-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Putting Words Into Action: Walmart releases detailed plans to implement its chemical policy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><a href=\"http:\/\/environmentaldefense.org\/page.cfm?tagID=62101\"><em>Jennifer McPartland, Ph.D.<\/em><\/a><\/em>, is a Health Scientist.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.edf.org\/people\/boma-brown-west\"><em>Boma Brown-West<\/em><\/a> is a Manager for Consumer Health.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri\">Today, Walmart unveiled its sustainable chemicals policy <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.walmartsustainabilityhub.com\/app\/answers\/detail\/a_id\/316\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;font-family: Calibri\">Implementation Guide<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Calibri\">. The Guide details how the company will work with suppliers to bring safer products to millions of American shoppers, as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/2013\/09\/12\/edf-applauds-new-walmart-policy-that-promises-safer-products-for-consumers\/\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;font-family: Calibri\">announced last September<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Calibri\"> when the policy was introduced. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri\">Walmart\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.walmartsustainabilityhub.com\/app\/answers\/detail\/a_id\/310\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;font-family: Calibri\">chemicals policy<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Calibri\"> affects formulated consumable products \u2013 the non-food products that you can pour, squeeze, dab or otherwise apply to your body or use in and around your home or car, <span style=\"color: #000000\">from health and beauty aids to baby products to pet supplies. <\/span>There are three main components of the policy: \u00a0transparency through expanded ingredient disclosure; advancement of safer product formulation through the reduction, restriction, and elimination \u00a0of priority chemicals and use of safer substitution practices; and a plan to take Walmart private brand consumables through the <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.epa.gov\/dfe\/pubs\/projects\/formulat\/label.htm\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;font-family: Calibri\">U.S. EPA Design for Environment (DfE) Safer Product Labeling Program<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Calibri\"> &#8212; a rigorous product certification program that reviews the safety of product ingredients. <span style=\"color: #000000\">Walmart\u2019s policy is audacious in that it attempts to evolve from the common restricted substance list (RSL) approach to one that actively promotes usage of safer chemicals.\u00a0 The release of the Implementation Guide makes public how this is expected to happen.\u00a0 <!--more--><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri\">At EDF, we\u2019ve been working to ensure that Walmart\u2019s commitment will transform business as usual and spur continuous innovation in safer products. \u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000\">\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Calibri\">The <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.walmartsustainabilityhub.com\/app\/answers\/detail\/a_id\/316\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;font-family: Calibri\">Implementation Guide<\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri\"> provides direction and resources for suppliers as they work to meet the Walmart policy. \u00a0In addition, Walmart explicitly details to suppliers and the public how it is going to measure its progress over time. \u00a0A major take-away: the Guide links quantifiable metrics to each component of the policy.\u00a0 It\u2019s clear that Walmart\u2019s policy was a data-driven process and its implementation will be similarly data-driven and supported.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri\">Based on our knowledge of the Implementation Guide, here\u2019s an overview of what we at EDF think are the key things to know with respect to Walmart\u2019s proposed implementation of the three main components of the policy. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.walmartsustainabilityhub.com\/app\/answers\/detail\/a_id\/299\"><i><span style=\"color: #0000ff;font-family: Calibri\">Transparency<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"color: #000000\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri\"> \u2013 Online ingredient disclosure at the product level<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri\">The Guide recommends existing guidelines, namely those of EPA\u2019s DfE program and the Consumer Product Specialty Association, as a minimum for meeting online ingredient disclosure expectations, but acknowledges that \u201cbest-in-class\u201d disclosure practices go further by including additional elements (e.g., disclosure of specific fragrance ingredients and known contaminants).<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri\">Walmart will track the percentage of each supplier\u2019s products featuring online ingredient disclosure.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri\">Online ingredient disclosure is to be achieved by January 2015.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.walmartsustainabilityhub.com\/app\/answers\/detail\/a_id\/300\"><i><span style=\"color: #0000ff;font-family: Calibri\">Advancing Safer Formulation of Products<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"color: #000000\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri\"> &#8211; Reduce, restrict, and eliminate the use of priority chemicals using informed substitution<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri\">Walmart is explicit in its expectation that all suppliers practice informed substitution when moving out of priority chemicals.\u00a0 The Guide calls out the multi-stakeholder <\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/2013\/10\/17\/making-regrettable-substitution-a-thing-of-the-past\/\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;font-family: Calibri\">Commons Principles of Alternatives Assessment<\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri\"> as a guidepost and provides a list of tools and databases to help suppliers make informed decisions and avoid \u201cregrettable substitutions.\u201d<i><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri\">Progress is to be measured by 1) reductions in the volume of priority chemicals and the number of products containing them, 2) improvements in product scores for chemical safety, as measured by the <\/span><\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewercs.com\/products-and-services\/greenwercs\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;font-family: Calibri\">GreenWERCS<\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Calibri\"> tool, and 3) number of products formulated exclusively with DfE ingredients.\u00a0 (It should be noted that DfE certification involves more than just assessment of product ingredients.\u00a0 See <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.epa.gov\/dfe\/pubs\/projects\/gfcp\/index.htm#Functional\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;font-family: Calibri\">here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri\"> to learn more about the program.)<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri\">No deadlines or specific goals are specified; however, Walmart plans to begin publicly reporting progress on this front in January 2016.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.walmartsustainabilityhub.com\/app\/answers\/detail\/a_id\/301\"><i><span style=\"color: #0000ff;font-family: Calibri\">Design for the Environment (DfE) Safer Product Labeling Program Certification for Private Brands<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><\/i><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri\">The Guide reiterates from the policy that Walmart intends to run its private brand products\u2014sold under such monikers as \u201cGreat Value\u201d and \u201cEquate\u201d\u2014through the U.S. EPA\u2019s DfE Safer Product Labeling Program. <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri\">Walmart will measure the percentage of private brand products that contain DfE-approved ingredients and those that achieve the DfE label.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri\">Again, no deadlines or goals are specified, but work has already begun and Walmart mentions its plans to publicly report progress related to this beginning in January 2016.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><i><span style=\"color: #000000\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri\">Other Highlights<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri\">The Guide includes the authoritative and regulatory lists used to identify \u201cpriority chemicals\u201c and clarifies that a subset of \u201capproximately 10\u201d so-called \u201c<i>high<\/i> priority chemicals\u201d [we added italics] are a starting point for suppliers. Interestingly, the Guide states that Walmart will be tracking reduction, restriction, and elimination of all of its \u201cpriority\u201d chemicals.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri\">The Guide indicates that Walmart suppliers will be receiving an \u201cinitial one-time communication via email\u201d this month from the retailer\u2019s third-party software partner, the Wercs, notifying companies of whether and which high priority chemicals are present in individual products.\u00a0 It appears that communication is conducted through the Wercs so that specific product formulation information remains confidential and unknown to Walmart. While suppliers will learn if priority chemicals are in their products, the full initial list has not been made publicly available. <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri\">Walmart\u2019s Implementation Guide puts real meat on the bones of its chemicals policy. \u00a0And, as long as we\u2019re using catch phrases, Walmart is putting real skin in the game by 1) making the guide public, 2) holding its private label products to higher expectations than the national brands, and 3) planning to report progress on policy implementation beginning in January 2016.\u00a0 Walmart\u2019s Guide reinforces that the company is not just talking about eliminating harmful chemicals \u2013 it means to ensure substitutions are better and that there are real systems in place to continuously work towards that goal. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri\">At EDF, we will continue to closely monitor and verify the reduction of hazardous chemicals and shift to safer ingredients, working to ensure the promise for safer products becomes a reality. \u00a0And we will be closely watching whether the commitment and expectations described here are met in a timely manner.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Calibri\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;font-family: Calibri\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jennifer McPartland, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist.\u00a0 Boma Brown-West is a Manager for Consumer Health. Today, Walmart unveiled its sustainable chemicals policy Implementation Guide. The Guide details how the company will work with suppliers to bring safer products to millions of American shoppers, as announced last September when the policy was introduced. Walmart\u2019s chemicals policy &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,56088],"tags":[39995,39999,39998,39994],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-3116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-policy","category-markets-and-retail","tag-alternatives-assessment","tag-informed-substitution","tag-markets","tag-walmart"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3116\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3116"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=3116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}