ConservingNow Community Change

Kroger announces a 180% increase since 2007 in plastic bag recycling!  We are making a difference!  Sure we would like to see everyone stop using plastic bags all together - but hey, we are thrilled that if a consumer has to take a plastic bag, more and more they are recycling it!  This proof that as we all become aware of the toxicity of plastic bags, we are all changing our habits.  Its only a matter of time, plastic bags!  Look out - we are truly making a difference!

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Kroger says plastic bag recycling up 180%
June 22 -- Kroger Co. recycled more than 1.2 billion pounds of corrugated cardboard and paper last year, according to the
company’s fifth sustainability report.
 

In addition, Cincinnati-based Kroger and its customers recycled 26 million pounds of plastic -- a 180% increase in plastic recycling since 2007.
Kroger’s improved bagging techniques and increased use of reusable bags saved an additional 159 million plastic bags, the report said, with the goal of sparing 1 billion bags by 2014.  The company also sold and provided customers with more than 5 million reusable bags, which is an average of 14,000 per day. Kroger said it expects to sell another 5 million reusable bags this year.

Since 2009, the company’s manufacturing plants have reduced the amount of waste sent to landfills by 30% -- a 22 million pound reduction. Kroger manufacturing has also set a 2011 goal of reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills by 60%, using 2009 as a baseline.

Contact Waste & Recycling News reporter Shawn Wright at 313-446-0346 or swright@crain.com.