Wal-Mart to require suppliers to stop using 10 toxic chemicals in cleaners, personal care products
Wal-Mart to require suppliers to stop using about 10 toxic chemicals in cleaners, personal care products
NEW YORK (AP) — Wal-Mart announced Thursday that it will require its suppliers to phase out about 10 hazardous chemicals from personal care products, cosmetics and cleaning products sold in its stores.
It will also require the suppliers to disclose chemicals in those products.
The moves follow an announcement made by Procter & Gamble Co.., the world's largest consumer product maker, earlier this month that it will eliminate phthalates and triclosan from its beauty products by 2014. In 2012, Johnson & Johnson pledged to eliminate phthalates, triclosan, formaldehydes and parabens from all its personal care products globally.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. says that beginning in January, the company will monitor progress on reducing and eliminating the chemicals in favor of more environmentally friendly alternatives and will begin to publicly report on it in January 2016.
In a conference call with the media, Andrea Thomas, Wal-Mart's senior vice president of sustainability, declined to immediately identify all chemicals being phased out, noting that the company wants to work collaboratively with suppliers before making that public. She said the retailer came up with the chemicals based on their environmental impact and whether there were greener alternatives. Experts believe that the germ-killing additive triclosan is on the list.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/wal-mart-banning-toxic-chemicals-some-products