Meijer has always been vocal about sustainability. The store is invested in being a “good neighbor” through initiatives that help cut costs, attract customers, and care for the environment.
Therefore, customers might be interested in finding out whether or not Meijer recycles plastic bags, batteries, ink cartridges, and bottles. Here’s all you need to know!
Does Meijer Recycle Plastic Bags, Batteries, Ink Cartridges, Bottles & More In [currentyear]?
Meijer recycles plastic bags, batteries, ink cartridges, bottles, and other products to foster sustainability as of [currentyear]. The company is committed to recycling materials that pose potential harm to the environment to minimize hazardous waste and find the best use for organic and food wastes through several recycling programs.
If you are seeking more information on Meijer’s recycling programs, including the recycling of plastic bags, batteries, ink cartridges, bottles, and much more, keep reading!
Does Meijer Recycle Plastic Bags?
Meijer stores recycle single-use plastic bags to demonstrate the store’s commitment to a circular economy through recycling and reusing plastic bags.
Through the recycling program, Meijer has placed recycling bins in the front entrances in each store for customers to drop clean and dry plastic bags and films.
Moreover, the plastic bags collected include the following:
- Grocery bags
- Case overwrap
- Product wrap
- Newspaper sleeves
- Dry cleaning bags
- Salt/pellet bags
- Ice bags
- Packaging air pillows
- LDPE/HCPE Films
- Food storage bags
- Cereal liners
- Bread bags
Also, Meijer collects any packaging bearing the How2Recycle “Store Drop Off” label.
With that, these packaging materials are collected mainly because most municipal recycling facilities and curbside recycling programs cannot recycle plastic bags.
Therefore, dropping them at Meijer is impactful and convenient.
Alongside creating a recycling program for plastic bags, Meijer encourages reusable bags to reduce the environmental impact and increase customers’ convenience.
That said, the company has joined the Beyond the Bag Consortium to help reinvent the retail bag and ultimately explore options that could replace the traditional single-use bags.
Further, the multi-year collaboration across the retail sector aims to identify, pilot, and implement new design solutions that would serve as single-use bags and be harmless to the environment.
What Does Meijer Do With Plastic Bags?
Apart from recycling plastic bags to manufacture more plastic bags, Meijer has invented new ways of using recycled plastic bags.
Through the company’s recycling program, Meijer has collaborated with Dow (NYSE: DOW) to collect plastic bags and recycle them in new paving technology that creates more durable parking lots.
For example, among the recently created Meijer parking lots using recycled plastic bags in the retailer’s Holland, Michigan supercenter.
Further, the parking lot is a recent three-phase pilot project that creates recycled polymer modified asphalt (RPMA) using approximately 12,500 pounds of post-consumer recycled plastic (PCR).
Generally, the project creates a full circle for recycled bags and represents two Michigan companies’ efforts towards a more sustainable future.
Does Meijer Recycle Batteries?
According to Rock the Green’s Meijer’s Eco Story, Meijer has a car battery recycling program that helps in reducing unwanted batteries from landfills.
In the battery recycling program, Meijer recycles the batteries on behalf of the customers and ensures that the metal and chemical byproducts wind up as new products.
At the same time, the waste is safely disposed of.
Does Meijer Recycle Ink Cartridges?
To reduce the impact of discarded ink cartridges, Meijer recycles old and used cartridges to create environmentally friendly inkjet replacement cartridges for the top national brands.
In addition, Meijer offers customers inkjet refill services in its stores, so it does not have to dispose of inkjet cartridges once they are used up.
However, suppose a customer feels the need to discard their empty ink cartridges.
In that case, Meijer’s recycling program comes in handy to avoid the effects of filling landfills and adding pollutants and toxins to the environment.
When the empty cartridges are returned to Meijer, the manufacturers take the original ink cartridges, disassemble them, clean them, and rebuild them before refilling and selling them as new.
In the long run, recycling the ink cartridges at Meijer limits waste and cuts down the financial and environmental cost of manufacturing new ink and toner cartridges.
Ultimately, the cost of the recycled ink cartridges is kept reasonably low when stocked in Meijer stores.
Does Meijer Recycle Bottles?
Yes, Meijer recycles bottles and encourages customers to return all bottles cans purchased at the stores.
Ideally, Meijer has bottle return machines programmed to recognize all products with deposits sold at the store.
When returning the bottles and cans to the stores, Meijer encourages customers to take the following steps:
- Separate the bottles and cans before going to the store to aid in keeping the flow of customers moving.
- Ensure to drain all bottles and cans and put them in cleaned bags and containers before visiting the store.
- Ensure only to carry bottles and cans that were bought from Meijer stores.
- Understand that Meijer’s maximum amount of returnable beverage containers is $25 per visit.
Additionally, the return machine typically reads the UPC to determine whether the bottle or can is Meijer’s and may reject a bottle if it cannot read the UPC.
Furthermore, the failure of the bottle return machine to accept the bottle may result from the UPC bar being damaged or obstructed.
Suppose you still experience difficulties when returning the bottles and cans at Meijer.
In that case, you can visit the service desk and a customer service representative to assist in processing the bottle returns.
To know more, you can also read our posts on whether or not Ace Hardware recycles batteries & paint, if Publix recycles plastic bags, and if Lowe’s recycles light bulbs.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Meijer is largely invested in managing hazardous wastes by creating several recycling programs within the company.
Through these programs, the company has created an avenue for customers to recycle plastic bags, batteries, ink cartridges, and bottles.
Hence, Meijer contributes to creating sustainability strategies that impact the environment positively.
