Walmart, the multi-billion-dollar retail giant, has recently announced the launch of Project Gigaton, which aims to eliminate more than 11 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases from the company’s supply chain by the year 2030.

Recognized worldwide as a sustainability leader, Walmart has always publicized its concern regarding the carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere. Ironically, the company has single-handedly been responsible for a huge amount of GHG emissions pertaining to its global shipping operations, as reported by a leading daily a few years back. Nonetheless, with the launch of Gigaton, Walmart plans to reduce a humongous amount of emissions (1 gigaton) in the environment – apparently, the mission is to involve as many suppliers as possible toward the elimination of carbon emissions. The total amount of GHG to be curbed is almost equal to pulling off more than 211 million vehicles out of service, state sources.

Project Gigaton is basically a sustainability platform - an open source, voluntary emissions reduction toolkit that has been designed to be used by suppliers for reducing GHG emissions from their supply chain models and other operations.

Walmart has beckoned to 250 of its top-notch suppliers to prepare for the successful implementation of the Project Gigaton. This toolkit has been designed to help suppliers set emission reduction plans, implement them accordingly, and strategize the shipping, deliveries, and other operational tasks. Putting an end to the speculations whether Walmart’s expectations from Gigaton may cause tension among its smaller suppliers, the company’s officials declared that the Gigaton toolkit will be a valuable resource that will provide practical guidance to suppliers with regards to how emissions can be reduced in all product categories.

Some suppliers have reportedly been working on eliminating carbon emissions all by themselves, even before Walmart’s Gigaton launch. In response to whether their efforts would be sidetracked, the company stated that irrespective of how extensive the suppliers’ sustainability efforts might be, the Gigaton toolkit will be an added, supportive scheme that will only serve to help them further, by optimizing their operations to lower the carbon emissions in the atmosphere.

Partnering with suppliers has been viewed by industry experts as Walmart’s calculated, yet optimized move to enlarge the scope of its project. Many manufacturers and small-scale suppliers though, have welcomed the move and joined the mission to reduce harmful emissions that occur due to their operational processes. Reportedly, the approach has been positively perceived by F&B giants such as PepsiCo and Kellogg.

Ever since the launch of its first sustainability program in 2005, Walmart’s approach has involved the participation of its prominent suppliers. With Project Gigaton, the company has taken another giant step toward maintaining a clean, emission-free, green environment.