Thus it may come as no surprise that Greenpeace regards Walmart as a “100-pound gorilla when it comes to global retailers.” John Hocevar, who is head of Greenpeace’s oceans campaign also pointed out that the company’s plastic footprint clocks in at a million tons a year. “So far, instead of working to reduce their plastic footprint in a significant way, they are greenwashing.” To be fair, Walmart isn’t the only company to be called out for potentially misleading their customers over their green credentials, because California prosecutors have also sued Amazon and Costco for calling products “biodegradable”. All three respondents, which also included Walmart, eventually settled (via CBS).
In case you’re wondering whether things might have improved since the lawsuit was filed, they haven’t. In its 2021 Supermarket Plastics Ranking, Greenpeace says all the supermarkets it reviewed received failing scores for their reliance on single-use plastics, and that the suggestion of recycling has done nothing to cut the proliferation of plastic bag pollution. Leading the list of what Greenpeace likely considers to be the best of the worst is Giant Eagle, followed by Aldi. Kroger sits at No. 4, Costco (which Greenpeace indicates didn’t respond to enquiries) at No. 6, and Walmart at No. 7.
