Does Walmart Recycle Plastic Bags & Bottles? (Full Guide)

Over the years, Walmart has taken a stance to improve its environmental sustainability. With an initiative to reduce non-renewable resource consumption and pollution, they are making strides to reduce waste.

But, does Walmart recycle plastic bags? Here is what I discovered!

Does Walmart Recycle Plastic Bags & Bottles?

Walmart does recycle plastic bags and bottles. Walmart allows customers to drop off plastic bags and bottles from Walmart, or any store including Kroger, Target, Safeway, etc., to their How2Recycle Store Drop-Off bins. Once deposited, the plastic items will be recycled at a local recycling plant.

To learn more about what Walmart is doing to combat plastic waste and reduce its carbon footprint, keep on reading!

Walmarts Beyond The Bag Initiative

Walmart is one of the founding members of the Closed Loop Partnership, where several major chains have come together to help combat the waste of plastic bags. 

The Closed Loop Partnership created the Beyond The Bag Challenge, which reached out to inventors to come up with a way to reduce plastic waste in various ways. 

Winning ideas included reusable bag kiosks, reusable bag reward programs, and materials that replace plastic such as Domtar and PlasticFri, made out of cellulose fiber and other bio-based products.

Walmart Store Drop-Off Bins For Plastic Bags & Platic Bottles

Walmart is supporting its zero-waste initiative by using How2Recycle Store Drop-Off bins where customers can drop off their used plastic bags and plastic bottles.

It does not matter what store or package the plastic is from, you can drop them off at any How2Recycle bin that is located in a Walmart.

This is a great step forward for customers as many curbside recycling programs in communities, plastic bags, and other films are not recycled properly and end up in landfills.

Walmart Reusable Bag Campaign

Along with many other stores, Walmart has decided to start selling reusable bags in their stores, which are located at the checkout lines to make them easy for customers to purchase.

States like California have started charging 10 cents per plastic bag to discourage people from using single-use bags.

Over several trips, it would be cheaper for customers to use reusable bags over plastic ones.

However, Walmart still has a long way to go, as they could stop providing plastic bags to customers when they checkout.

Pack One More Item Campaign

In addition to the plastic bag recycling programs, Walmart has also commenced the “Pack One More Item” Campaign to reduce plastic waste and work towards its zero-waste initiative. 

To reduce the number of bags required, Walmart employees and customers are encouraged to place more bags per bag to reduce the number of bags required.

Other Ways Walmart Is Reducing Plastic Waste

Walmart is working hard to meet its goal of zero waste by 2025 by implementing various programs and taking part in various campaigns.

Additionally, Walmart is working with its suppliers to reduce the overall amount of plastic waste that occurs due to its products.

• Education: Walmart wants to ensure customers know how to recycle and give them the ability to recycle.
• Packaging: Walmart is working with suppliers to reduce the use of plastics and other recyclable waste. 
• Adoption: Walmart is influencing companies to adopt better designs to reduce single-use plastics and other recyclable items.

If you are looking to learn more, you can also see my posts on Walmarts competitive advantages and how they are moving forward as a more eco-friendly company.

Also, you can learn about Walmart’s bottle return program and Walmart’s phone buy-back program.

Conclusion

Walmart does recycle plastic bags, and it does so much more. It has pledged to become a zero-waste company by 2025, which means it will do everything possible to reduce its plastic footprint. 

To reach its goal, Walmart is working internally and externally to reduce the amount of plastic used by finding alternatives to single-use plastic bags. Reusable bags, recycling drop-off bins, and high-tech bio-plastic alternatives are just the start.