Walmart Canada launches recycling initiative for excess and damaged reusable bags

Walmart Canada is pioneering a national initiative aimed at extending the lifespan of reusable shopping bags.

As the first major retailer in Canada to introduce such a programme, Walmart is collaborating with TerraCycle, a leader in recycling hard-to-recycle materials, to offer customers a convenient way to recycle their excess or damaged reusable blue shopping bags.

Through the Walmart Blue Bag Recycling Programme, customers can participate free of charge by sending in their eligible bags. TerraCycle will then either launder and donate the bags for reuse by charity partners, including Food Banks Canada, or recycle damaged bags into raw materials used to create new products like plastic shipping pallets and outdoor furniture.

This programme underscores Walmart Canada's commitment to sustainability and marks another step forward in its journey towards becoming a regenerative company. In 2022, Walmart Canada made significant strides by eliminating single-use plastic shopping bags, preventing over 680 million plastic bags from entering circulation annually.

Jennifer Barbazza, Senior Manager, Sustainability, Walmart Canada, said: 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 programme. This first-of-its-kind national recycling pilot programme 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.

In 2023, the retail giant also announced plans to replace the majority of plastic mailers with paper mailers and adopt a "rightsize" approach to cardboard box packaging.