Loblaw Introduces Plastic Bag Recycling Program

BRAMPTON, Ont. -- Loblaw Cos., Ltd. here has begun implementing the PC GREEN Plastic Bag Recycling Program at Ontario stores in municipalities where curbside plastic bag recycling isn't available. According to the grocer, more than half of Ontario municipalities could fit this description.

"As Canada's largest grocery retailer, we have a responsibility to help reduce waste in our communities," said Loblaw executive chairman Galen G. Weston in a statement. "In municipalities that do not offer plastic bag recycling, we are committed to continuing to offer consumers options to help them divert plastic bags from landfill."

Loblaw estimates that the initiative could over 51 million plastic bags from Ontario landfills in the first year of the program by encouraging shoppers to return plastic grocery bags to stores with recycling receptacles.

PC GREEN Plastic Bag recycling receptacles are currently in the entrance vestibules of 60 Ontario stores, with additional stores to implement the program in the near future. The program's test pilot indicated that receptacles would be filled at a rate of twice weekly -- or over 16,000 plastic bags recycled per store per week.

Other recent green initiatives on Loblaw's part are the recent opening of the new Loblaw Superstore concept in Milton, Ont. - billed as the first major grocery and general merchandise retail store in North America to entirely dispense with traditional plastic grocery bags at checkout -- and the rollout of PC GREEN "Canada's Greenest Shopping Bag."

In April Loblaw pledged to reduce 1 billion plastic grocery bags from Canada's landfills within a year.

Loblaw, Canada's largest food distributor and a leading provider of general merchandise, drugstore, and financial products and services, is one of the largest private-sector employers in Canada, employing over 139,000 full-time and part-time employees.
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