When it comes to managing our trash, Americans are throwing away a lot of money. Because lots of people – 45% of U.S. residents, in fact – still don’t have easy access to recycling bins, recycling rates are low in many areas. In 2013, this caused cities to spend more than $7 billion on landfills and lose more than $11 billion that they could have earned from selling recycled materials.
Walmart is committed to one day achieving our goal of zero waste by improving the recycled content in product packaging, and we know we’ll never get there if this problem continues. So, last year, we became the lead investor in a new social impact venture: the Closed Loop Fund.
The Closed Loop Fund came together to provide zero interest loans to cities for investments in local recycling programs. It links the financial interests of companies that need recycled material back in their supply chains, and municipalities who need a more affordable way of investing in recycling infrastructure.
We’re excited to have
several suppliers join us as investors. As producers of packaged goods, Unilever and Proctor & Gamble need a more
consistent and efficient stream of recycled material. Both companies recently
shared why they made the decision to get involved, and you can read their
full story here.