March 17, 2008 - Wal-Mart plans to meet with its Chinese suppliers this fall in a bid to improve environmental performance at the factories that manufacture its products, Reuters reports. CEO Lee Scott told the Wall Street Journal ECO:nomics conference last week that the company is "going to deal more aggressively with the issues of sourcing in China."

Wal-Mart's top priorities in China include energy efficiency, emissions reduction, and the responsible disposal of factory waste. The company will also encourage suppliers to reduce packaging waste, much as it has with its other suppliers.

Scott cautioned that greening Wal-Mart's network of thousands of Chinese suppliers would take time. The retail giant has hired an outside consulting firm to help speed the process along.