New Recycling Kiosk at ShopRite Lets Customers Recycle Flexible-Film Plastic Packaging for Pet Food, Snacks, Garden Products and More

ShopRite and TerraCycle are piloting a  recycling program for flexible-film plastic packaging at five ShopRite stores in New Jersey. ShopRite and its store 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.

Colorful kiosks are located outside the five ShopRite stores piloting the program, and contain instructions for customers to sort and deposit flexible-film packaging. The following items are accepted through the new recycling kiosks:

• 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

“We are pleased to work with TerraCycle, the leader in recycling hard-to-recycle materials,” said Karen Meleta, Chief Communications Officer for Wakefern Food Corp., the logistics and merchandising arm for ShopRite stores. “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. 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.”

“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.”

ShopRite stores have a longstanding recycling program for plastic bags but stores were seeing other forms of flexible-film in the plastic bag bins. The new recycling kiosks now allow customers to properly sort the material and return it for recycling. TerraCycle will clean and recycle the flexible-film into raw formats that manufacturers use to make new products. Paper-based wrappers, food waste, pet food, pet accessories, canvas totes, food storage containers, glass containers, bottles and other rigid plastics will not be accepted at the kiosks.

TerraCycle will track usage of the kiosks and report results to ShopRite and Wakefern to measure the success of the program to determine next steps on expansion.

To search for the nearest participating ShopRite location or to learn more about the ShopRite Flexible Packaging Recycling Kiosk program, visit https://www.terracycle.com/en-US/brigades/shoprite-flexible-packaging-recycling-kiosk.