ST.LOUIS, Mo., June 28, 2012 - Walmart
and St. Louis Green, Inc. have received the Missouri Waste Control Coalition’s (MWCC) outstanding achievement award in environmental stewardship. MWCC
officials made the presentation at its annual statewide conference last week at Lake of the Ozarks. (Photo available at http://budurl.com/WalEnvironment)
The award was given for improving waste management practices and the wise use of natural resources. In 2009, Walmart and St. Louis Green, Inc., which empowers people to lead sustainable lifestyles, started the Holiday Light Recycling Drive, a campaign that encourages people to recycle their old non-working holiday lights and instead purchase LED lights, which are much more energy efficient. This year alone, 62,000 pounds of lights were collected and recycled – enough to fill two semi trucks.
“At Walmart, being a good steward of the environment is one of our most important business imperatives,” says Glenda Fleming Willis, regional general manager for
Walmart. “However, without the support of our customers, our associates and the communities we serve, this award would not have been possible.”
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During the first year of the Holiday Light Recycling Drive,” 15 Walmart stores participated and St. Louis Green, Inc.collected 6,000 pounds of lights. Since then, the drive has expanded to 60 Walmart stores from St. Louis to Springfield, Missouri, along with more than
200 other participating companies, schools and municipalities. Additionally, some of the proceeds St. Louis Green, Inc. raised this year from recycling the
lights went to purchasing nearly 4,000 cans of tuna for Operation Food Search’sBackpack program for elementary schoolchildren.
MWCC is a 400-member coalition of citizens and businesses throughout the state concerned with the disposal of generated wastes. Its annual environmental
conference, which started in 1972, is one of the oldest environmental conferences in the nation.
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About Walmart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) serves customers and members more than 200 million times per week at more than 10,130 retail units under 69 different
banners in 27 countries. With fiscal year 2012 sales of approximately $444 billion, Walmart employs more than 2 million associates worldwide. Walmartcontinues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and
employment opportunity. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting http://walmartstores.com, and onFacebook at http://facebook.com/walmart and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/walmart. Online merchandise sales are available at http://www.walmart.com and http://www.samsclub.com.
Photo cutline (pictured from left to right): Brandy Kean, MWCC board member; CraigJung, St. Louis Green, Inc. executive director; and Phil Hamilton, Osage Beach Walmart store manager.