Waste Reduction Success Stories - Retailers

More and more businesses are implementing cost saving, environmentally friendly recycling, composting and waste reduction programs. Here are a few retailers in Cuyahoga County and around the country, who are leading the way.

Costco

Recycling at Costco

Each Costco warehouse generates tons of waste each week, in the form of cardboard, plastic, unusable produce and more. Much of it is kept out of local landfills through a variety of efforts.

All cardboard and plastic wrap is baled in the warehouses and recycled. In 2008, that will total some 240,000 tons of material. Recyclable paper and plastic are both sold as commodities, so keeping them out of landfills makes smart business sense, says Todd Fitzgerald, Costco corporate recycling and waste-reduction specialist.

Another big source of waste is produce—as much as 1.5 tons a week per warehouse. Costco is testing programs in several buildings to keep this produce out of landfills by paying composting companies to pick it up, for a rate lower than what garbage companies charge. For example, in Palm Springs, California, two warehouses are sending the waste produce to a worm farm, where it is composted into mulch.

The trimmings from meat and grease from Costco’s rotisserie chickens are also reusable. These wastes have traditionally gone to rendering companies, which make them into animal feed and other products. But now, biofuel producers in some regions have started buying the meat trimmings and chicken grease.

Costco is examining virtually every product in the warehouses with this question: Can the packaging be smarter? The answer is often yes. For example, buyers are working with suppliers to replace the clamshell packages, which hold everything from cosmetics to calculators, with packages that use paperboard and PET plastic. The clamshell packages have PVC plastic, which isn’t readily recyclable, while paperboard and PET plastics are.

In many cases, products and their packages can be designed to be greener. For example, by making square plastic milk bottles, 224 gallon-size bottles can now fit on a pallet, compared to 210 round bottles. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but spread out to all warehouses, the larger pallet count saves 521 truck trips to the warehouses per year, eliminating fuel usage and exhaust emissions. The same approach is being applied to dozens of products, from laundry detergent to nuts.

Costco is committed to shrinking its carbon footprint in real, sustainable ways, tapping the same innovative spirit that has helped the company be successful, says Karen Raines, Costco’s director of corporate sustainability. “We’re doing what we’ve always done, by trying to be efficient and cost-effective on things,” she says. “But we’re also looking at where we can do a better job.” For more information, see www.costco.com.