SustainabilitybeyondrecyclinganexploratorystudyofretailersenvironmentaleffortsintheUSA.docVIP

Sustainability: beyond recycling an exploratory study of retailers’ environmental efforts in the USA Chida Meriem He, Ling Department of Apparel, Merchandising Design Textiles Washington State University Keywords: Environment, reduce, waste, plastic, sustainability. Abstract This paper explores the environmental efforts of retailers in the United States to reduce their impact on the planet. A sample of thirty five annual reports and corporate social responsibility reports from eight retailers were analyzed. Findings suggest that at a strategic level all sample retailers commit to integrating waste minimization goals into their operations. Target, Wal-Mart, Albertson and Safeway were the most successful. This study also suggests that specialty stores and department stores environmental commitments are more aspirational than operational. Introduction The importance of the retail industry in shaping the market landscape has grown over the years and is expected to continue to grow throughout the world. Today, the global value of the retail industry is estimated at $11.5 trillion dollars and is anticipated to grow to $20 trillion within the next ten years (Euromonitor 2010; Court and Narasimhan 2010). The economic impact of the retail industry is well documented via its quantitative flow to gross domestic product such as revenues generated, jobs created, interests and taxes paid. For instance, the share of the retail industry to the US economy is estimated at seven percent according to the National Retail Federation (NRF, 2009). In addition to the economic significance of retailers is the growing recognition that this industry has a unique position within the global supply chain to drive change (Jones et al., 2007). The first significant change pioneered by retailers is the shift in production from a market push (supplier driven) to a market pull (retailers or consumers driven). Today, there exists a great new opportunity for retailers to actively p