A Giant Food Stores location in Cleona, Pa., is the first in the chain to reach the Environmental Protection Agency’s definition of zero waste.
Measures the store has taken to reach the benchmark include not labeling cardboard as garbage, sending food waste and scraps for organic recycling, and collecting plastic film, plastic bags and other items to go to the Giant recycling center, according to a news release.
“It’s been a total store effort as we set up each department, so it’s easy to do the right thing when it comes to lessening our environmental impact,” Judy Knarr, assistant store manager at the location and green captain for her district, said in the release. “We have associates across the store who have embraced our recycling efforts and collectively have changed the store’s culture to achieve this goal.”
The store has gotten help in the effort from its shoppers.
“There are a lot of little things we do that get the customers excited and help us drive down waste at the same time,” Andrea Doygun, store manager at the Cleona location, said in the release. “For example, we clean the empty frosting containers from the bakery as well as corn crates from produce and put them out for our customers to take them home and reuse them. Every little thing counts.”
The EPA standard for zero waste is 90% of waste being diverted from a landfill or incineration.
Sustainability is a major initiative for Giant Food Stores and parent company Ahold Delhaize, per the release. More efficient bagging, more use of reusable totes by shoppers, and turning plastic bags into park benches are among the ways the organizations have been working to reduce waste.