Walmart do not report a single figure for how much waste they produce. By our estimate, Walmart generate around 14.5 million metric tonnes (about 32 billion pounds) of waste in 2026 from their own stores, clubs and warehouses.
That figure covers the waste Walmart handle in their own operations, the cardboard, plastic film, food and store rubbish, not the waste created in making the products on their shelves. Walmart keep most of it out of landfill, but the pile grows as the company does.
Walmart say they divert 83.5% of their operational waste from landfill, but never give a total. By our estimate that is roughly 14.5 million tonnes in 2026, and most of their 2025 waste and plastic targets were missed.
Walmart's estimated waste totals (2022-2026)
Walmart do not disclose a total waste figure, so the table below estimates it from the company's own numbers, scaled across recent years.
| Year | Estimated waste (metric tonnes) | Change on prior year |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 14.5 million | +0.7 million |
| 2025 | 13.8 million | +0.7 million |
| 2024 | 13.1 million | +0.6 million |
| 2023 | 12.5 million | +0.7 million |
| 2022 | 11.8 million | baseline |
Note: Walmart publish no total waste figure, so this is our estimate, built from their reported food waste being 8.7% of operational waste (roughly 13 million tonnes in 2024, about 14.5 million in 2026 after revenue growth).
This page counts the waste from Walmart's own operations, which is separate from the roughly 21 million tonnes of packaging that sits on all the products they sell, as that belongs to their supply chain rather than their own bins.
How big is Walmart?
Walmart are the world's largest retailer, and by revenue the largest company of any kind. The American chain, founded in 1962, runs big supercenters, smaller stores and the Sam's Club warehouse chain, selling groceries and general goods across 19 countries.
That size is the main reason their waste runs into the millions of tonnes a year. A few plain figures show the scale behind it.
- Revenue: 681 billion dollars in the year to January 2025, up 5.1%.
- Stores: more than 10,750 stores and clubs worldwide.
- Staff: about 2.1 million workers, the largest private employer in the world.
- Groceries: the largest grocery seller in the United States.
- Customers: around 270 million shopping trips every week.
What makes up Walmart's waste
Walmart's waste is mostly the packaging and goods moving through their shops, not factory waste. Four things drive the total.
- Packaging. Transport and shelf packaging, the cardboard boxes, pallet wrap and plastic film that goods arrive in, is 72.8% of the waste in Walmart's operations. In the United States alone, Walmart recycled 6.1 billion pounds of cardboard in 2024.
- Food. As one of the world's largest grocers, food makes up 8.7% of Walmart's operational waste, and it is the slice growing fastest.
- Store and bin waste. General waste from store bins is 11%, and much of it is too mixed or dirty to recycle.
- Sheer size. With more than 10,750 stores and 270 million weekly visits, even small amounts per shop add up to millions of tonnes.
Walmart split the waste in their own operations into these sources.
| Source of waste | Share |
|---|---|
| Transport and shelf packaging | 72.8% |
| General bin waste | 11.0% |
| Food | 8.7% |
| Automotive | 4.6% |
| Old fixtures and equipment | 2.0% |
| Other | 0.9% |
Note: Shares are from Walmart's FY2025 ESG report, covering waste in their own operations in 2024. They are shares of waste before any is sent for recycling or composting.
Transport and shelf packaging is 72.8% of the waste in Walmart's operations. In the United States alone, the company recycled 6.1 billion pounds of cardboard in 2024.
How much food Walmart throw away
Walmart report their food waste in pounds, split by where it ends up. In 2024 they handled about 2.5 billion pounds of food waste across their operations.
| Where the food went | Pounds |
|---|---|
| Landfill or incineration | 1.55 billion |
| Animal feed | 409 million |
| Composting | 332 million |
| Anaerobic digestion (turned into biogas) | 167 million |
| Biochemical processing | 67 million |
Note: From Walmart's FY2025 ESG report, for their own operations in 2024. Food sent to landfill or incineration rose 22% in a year. Walmart also donated 855 million pounds of food to food banks.
Walmart have set a goal to cut the amount of food they waste for every dollar of sales in half by 2030, against a 2016 starting point. Their own report shows that progress slipped to a 12.1% reduction in 2024, down from 21.7% the year before, as grocery sales grew.
Walmart's plastic goals are slipping
Walmart set a round of packaging goals for 2025, and their 2024 figures show they fell short on each one.
| Plastic and packaging goal | Where Walmart got to |
|---|---|
| 100% recyclable, reusable or compostable own-brand packaging | 66.1%, down from 68.2% |
| 17% recycled content in own-brand plastic packaging | 7.6% |
| Cut new plastic by 15% | up 5.4% instead |
Note: Own-brand (private-label) packaging only, from Walmart's FY2025 ESG report. The goals were set for 2025, the figures are their 2024 progress, and the plastic cut is measured against 2020. New plastic means plastic made from oil rather than recycled material.
What Walmart say about their impact
Walmart point to a handful of environmental programs, though they vary in how close they sit to the waste from their stores.
- Project Gigaton. Their best-known effort targets emissions, not waste. Walmart asked suppliers to cut a billion tonnes of greenhouse gas from making and moving their products, and said in early 2024 the goal was met years early. It is measured in carbon, not bin bags.
- Zero waste by 2025. Walmart aimed to keep 90% of waste out of landfill in the United States, Canada and Mexico. They say the United States is on pace at 84.4%, while Canada and Mexico will likely miss the date, and the global rate is flat at 83.5%.
Walmart's trucking fleet sits under Project Gigaton, their push to cut emissions from making and moving products. The programme targets carbon, not the waste from their stores.
By their own 2024 data, Walmart missed most of their 2025 environmental targets.
- Recyclable packaging fell, instead of reaching the 100% goal.
- Recycled content stayed near 8%, against goals of 17 to 20%.
- New plastic use rose, against a goal to cut it.
- Waste diversion did not move at all.
Walmart frame this as steady progress on a long timeline rather than a set of misses.
Frequently asked questions about Walmart's waste
Below are the most common questions about Walmart's waste production.
How much waste does Walmart produce each year?
Walmart do not publish a total, so we estimate around 14.5 million tonnes in 2026 from their own operations. The estimate starts from the food waste Walmart report, which they say is 8.7% of their operational waste.
What kind of waste does Walmart produce most of?
Packaging. Cardboard, pallet wrap and plastic film make up 72.8% of the waste in Walmart's operations, far more than food, which is 8.7%.
Does Walmart recycle most of their waste?
They keep 83.5% out of landfill (2024) through recycling, composting, food donation and energy recovery. That has been flat since 2023 and is short of their 90% goal.
How much food does Walmart waste?
About 2.5 billion pounds across their operations in 2024, of which 1.55 billion pounds went to landfill or incineration, up 22% on the year. They donated another 855 million pounds.
Did Walmart meet their 2025 waste and plastic targets?
Mostly no. Recyclable own-brand packaging fell to 66.1%, recycled content sat at 7.6% against a 17% goal, new plastic use rose, and waste diversion stalled below the 90% target.
Is Project Gigaton a waste program?
No. Project Gigaton is about cutting greenhouse-gas emissions across Walmart's supply chain, not the waste from their stores. It is measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide, not waste.
How do we estimate Walmart's waste?
Walmart report a landfill-diversion rate and their food-waste tonnage, but no total. We divide the reported food waste by its 8.7% share of operations to reach a total, then scale other years by Walmart's revenue.
