Thrifty Foods Boosts Recycling Program
Apr 20, 2012
(News Release) VICTORIA — Thrifty Foods president Jim Dores today announced the successful launch of a new and expanded recycling program in stores on Vancouver Island, Saltspring Island, and throughout the Lower Mainland in coordination with recycling partner Cascades Recovery.
“Diverting garbage from landfill sites is a top priority for Thrifty Foods and today’s achievement is a big step toward our goal of reducing our Greenhouse Gas Emission (GHG) intensity by 15 per cent by 2013,” says Dores. “The Cascades program empowers each of our over 4,500 employees to be a big part of the solution and the result, diverting over 29 metric tonnes of plastic and paper in just six weeks, roughly the volume of 22 full-sized school buses with seats removed, is a remarkable step in the right direction.”
On March 1, the in-store recycling program was expanded to recycle metal and glass food containers, plastic yogurt and cottage cheese containers, laundry and milk jugs, medicine bottles, gardening pots, and a variety of paper packaging formerly disposed of as garbage. Even the backing rolls used for the Thrifty Foods ‘Smile’ stickers make their way into the new recycling bags, which then head straight to Cascades Recovery Plus recycling facilities in both Victoria and Vancouver.
“For almost two decades, Cascades Recovery has been working closely with Thrifty Foods to recover discarded materials from their stores and, in turn, have those materials recycled into new products,” says Al Metauro, president of Cascades Recovery Inc. “Thrifty Foods is leading the way in the retail industry by constantly exploring and adopting new ways to reduce, reuse and recycle.”
Cascades Recovery, a subsidiary of Cascades Inc., has been recovering cardboard from Thrifty Foods stores since 1991. Thrifty Foods’ expanded list of recyclables is also processed into materials for other Cascades Inc. products, including shipping containers for their toilet paper and paper towel products – also available in store.
The Cascades Recovery program is just one of many Green Aisle activities taking place at Thrifty Foods. For more information, check out our Green Buildings, Reusable Bag Program, Bottle and Cardboard Recycling, Seafood Sustainability, and our Transportation and Logistics initiatives.