Big Three take high road on environmental front - Wal-Mart Stores Inc., K Mart Corp. K Mart Stores, Dayton-Hudson Corp. Target Stores - Retailing & The Environment

Discount Store News, March 18, 1991 by Richard Halverson

Target began requiring $5 deposits Jan. 1, 1991, and expects to see its recycling rate surge to between 65% and 70%.

The chains also differ in their approach to "green" tags.

Target declines to get involved with green tags, Aronson said, but does make an exception for some products. Those include concentrated Tide which is promoted in a shelf talker and packaged in a smaller box because of the concentration reformulation.

Under Aronson's direction, a Target task force is drafting packaging standards for the use of recycled paper and nontoxic inks.

Kmart, as part of developing a Five-Year Plan on the environment, has commissioned a green survey from Wayne State University. Based on data vendors provide, the university will look at the fastest selling commodity items and provide a third party opinion as to which are "more environmentally responsible," such as using recycled materials in packaging.

Identifying and promoting the sale of environmentally responsible products are two of the three objectives of Kmart's environmental action plan, said public affairs vice president Robert Stevenson.

The third is to educate employees and customers about the environmental affects of the products Kmart sells. Last March, Kmart hung signs in its stores advising customers about its program and handouts with environmental tips.

The Wal-Mart green tags are not an endorsement, Higham emphasized. "We are against anything that says a product is environmentally safe. We don't believe such a thing exists."

PHOTO : Joe Antonini, chairman of Kmart, urged retailers to be leaders in promoting the development and sale of improved products

PHOTO : Wal-Mart and its battery vendors will donate 50 cents to local groups for each junk battery that is recycled

PHOTO : As catalyst behind Target's sponsorship of Kids for Saving Earth, George Hite helped thousands of youngsters get involved with the ecology