Environment

Global supermarket giant Wal-Mart has committed to reduce its worldwide plastic bag waste by an average of 33% per store by 2013.

The target, set by the owner of Asda at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting yesterday (25 September), is expected to eliminate more than 61,000 tonnes of plastic waste globally.

Wal-Mart's commitment includes a 25% reduction from US stores and a 50% reduction from its international operations.

Matt Kistler, senior vice president for sustainability of Wal-Mart Stores, said: "By reducing the number of plastic bags our customers use, increasing the availability and affordability of reusable bags and providing recycling solutions, we think we can eliminate plastic waste equivalent to nine billion plastic bags per year from our existing stores alone.

"If we can encourage consumers to change their behaviour, just one bag at a time, we believe real progress can be made toward our goal of creating zero waste."

Earlier this month, Wal-Mart de Mexico introduced reusable bags at one-third the cost of its current bags. In the US, Wal-Mart will offer reusable bags beginning in October for 50 cents each.

In the UK, ASDA has removed single use carrier bags from all of its checkouts and since June 2008 has reduced the amount of plastic bags used in its stores by 30%.

The goal builds on previous the commitments made by the supermarket giant at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting. At the 2007 meeting, Wal-Mart committed to transition the entire liquid laundry detergent category in its US stores to concentrated detergent.

The Clinton Global Initiative aims to act as a catalyst for action which brings together a community of global leaders from various backgrounds to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges.