In countries such as the U.S., consumers are responsible for about one-third of food waste, more than any other part of the food chain. To combat this, Bon Appétit pioneered removing trays from dining halls resulting in up to 30 percent less consumer waste. They also educated their consumers by weighing and measuring wasted food at dish return stations.

Walmart is a leading motivator for investment in product sustainability with nearly 80 percent of respondents that identified a retail-driver citing the company in an open-ended question. This was followed by Target at about 50 percent, Costco at 18 percent, and Nordstrom at 12 percent. Walmart and Target clearly stand out from crowd. These retailers’ priorities are trickling through the supply chain and influencing supplier product sustainability programs.

To make the most of this organizational alignment RB honed in on improving carbon, ingredients, packaging and water to meet this target and to keep the business focused on critical improvement opportunities. These four priorities shaped the program and the limited set of issues enabled faster training, tool development and integration into the product development process.

Keeping up with growing demands for chemical data using spreadsheets or simple databases will become increasingly unrealistic. Managers need tools that enable them to organize, analyze and make decisions about chemicals and materials in their supply chains and products — and they need to do this quickly and accurately