Walmart’s plan to develop an eco-rating for all the products it sells, including electronics items, is ambitious, “yet may translate into only to only a small step for sustainability,” according to a spokesperson for Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports.

The Benton, Arkansas-based retailer’s Sustainable Product Index is expected to provide a snapshot view of each product’s environmental impact during its life cycle, from raw materials through disposal. As a first step in the five-year program, Walmart will assess the sustainability of its more than 100,000 suppliers worldwide. Each supplier will be asked to respond to a 15-question survey (PDF) that covers energy and climate; material efficiency; natural resources; and people and community.

Urvashi Rangan, Ph.D., CU's director of Technical Policy, says that "collecting detailed product information and translating it into a simple green rating is a complex task and, ultimately, only as accurate as the data and evaluation that goes into a life-cycle analysis.”

As we’ve covered before, there's already a multiplicity of approaches in the marketplace to so-called green ratings. 

For more on the Walmart initiative, see the post by our colleagues on the Home and Garden blog. We also have a host of other information available on the environmental dimensions of electronics gear.