Walmart Canada has started to offer shoppers a national pilot program with TerraCycle to recycle reusable shopping bags.
Through the free recycling program, Canadian shoppers can send in their excess or damaged Walmart reusable blue shopping bags for recycling. Once collected, TerraCycle will take the eligible bags and either launder and donate the bags for reuse by charity partners, including Food Banks Canada, or recycle damaged bags into raw formats that manufacturers use to make new products, like plastic shipping pallets, outdoor furniture, and more.
"We know that transitioning away from single-use plastic bags two years ago has been a learning curve for Canadians – and we're proud to be learning alongside them as we make this change together. Today, we're proud to offer Canadians an opportunity for a 'fresh start' by launching our national reusable bag recycling pilot program," said Jennifer Barbazza, senior manager of sustainability at Walmart Canada. "This first-of-its-kind national recycling pilot program will allow Canadians to give their excess or damaged reusable blue bags a second life, free of charge, preventing them from taking up space at home or heading to landfill."
Walmart Canada wants shoppers to join its Fresh Start Day of Action on April 22, 2024. On this day, the retailer is encouraging Canadians to package up their Walmart-branded blue reusable shopping bags and mail them to TerraCycle to be laundered for donation or recycled through the recycling pilot program.
To participate in the free recycling program, Canadians can:
- Collect their extra reusable blue Walmart shopping bags in one spot.
- Sign up here to join the program.
- Package up bags – a minimum of five bags and a maximum package size of 18x18x18 inches – apply the pre-paid label from TerraCycle and drop the package at UPS locations.
