ShopRite and its private label brands, Paperbird and Bowl & Basket, are collaborating with P&G, Purina, Campbell’s Snacks and TerraCycle to launch a recycling program for flexible-film plastic packaging at five of the grocer’s stores in New Jersey.
The kiosks offer customers a place to drop off all types of otherwise hard-to-recycle flexible packaging. The kiosks, which contain instructions, are located outside the following five stores:
- Brookdale ShopRite: 1409 Broad St., Bloomfield
- ShopRite of Newark: 206 Springfield Ave., Newark
- ShopRite of Greater Morristown: 178 E. Hanover Ave., Cedar Knolls
- ShopRite of Livingston: 483 S. Livingston Ave., Livingston
- ShopRite of Stirling: 1153 Valley Road, Stirling
ShopRite stores have long had a recycling program for plastic bags, but stores were seeing other forms of flexible packaging in their bins. The new recycling kiosks will accept the following items:
- Home, pet and garden packaging:
- Fertilizer and soil bags
- Pet food and treat packaging
- Laundry and dish detergent pouches
- Flexible snack packaging:
- Chip and snack bags
- Candy wrappers
- Food and drink squeeze pouches
- Plastic wrap and shopping bags:
- Plastic shopping bags
- Bread bags
- Plastic film/wrap
TerraCycle will clean and recycle the items into raw formats that manufacturers use to make new products. The kiosks will not accept paper-based wrappers, food waste, pet food, pet accessories, canvas totes, food storage containers, glass containers, bottles and other rigid plastics.
“Most flexible plastic – including snack wrappers, chip bags and food packaging – end up in the trash, but it doesn’t have to be that way,” said Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of New Jersey-based Terracycle.
“The ShopRite flexible packaging recycling kiosks provide residents of Morris and Essex counties more access to recycling these hard-to-recycle single-use plastics, and we hope to see many shoppers take advantage of these free recycling kiosks.”
Karen Meleta, chief communications officer for Wakefern Food Corp., the logistics and merchandising arm for ShopRite stores, said the company is “pleased to work with TerraCycle.”
“For more than four decades, ShopRite has supported and advanced a wide range of recycling and waste-reduction initiatives to make a meaningful difference in the communities served by ShopRite stores,” she said. “The new ShopRite flexible plastics recycling kiosk created by TerraCycle in collaboration with brand partners is a continuation of that commitment to community and sustainability.”
TerraCycle will track use of the kiosks and report results to ShopRite and Wakefern to measure the success of the program to determine next steps on expansion.
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