Sustainability
Animal Welfare
Wakefern's Animal Welfare & Care Program extends to 10 different species. We work with our vendors to ensure that our brands are sourced from suppliers who meet our animal welfare standards and promote the humane treatment of animals at all times. We require our suppliers to follow strict policies when it comes to the humane treatment of animals. Our guiding principles, standards, & audit program address animal care from housing to harvest & are based on the folloing 5 basic freedoms: freedom from hunger & thirst, freedom from discomfort, freedom from pain, freedom from Iinjury or disease, freedom to express most normal behaviors & distress
Sustainable Seafood
In our efforts to keep seafood abundant & safe for generations to come, we work with wild caught & farmed seafood suppliers who source their stocks from well-managed fisheries-ones that meet the requirements & practices established by their respective governing bodies. Our partnership with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) & the Global Seafood Alliance (GSA) ensures that the wild-caught & sustainable fisheries & farms.
Sustainable Packaging
We are a proud member of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, a leading voice and collaborative for sustainable packaging. Through our membership, we are able to share best practices and emerging research in this space, which has helped us refine our approach to include three key areas of focus: Responsible Sourcing, Design Optimization, Design for Recovery
Recycling Center
In the early 1970s, we opened our very own materials recovery facility in Elizabeth, NJ. Since its inception, our facility has recycled over 2.6 million tons of material. Our warehouses, offices and banner stores recycle over 150,000 tons of material annually including cardboard, plastic bags/flexible plastic film, paper, hard plastics and wooden crates.
Grocery Bag Reduction
We believe the best bag is a reusable bag. That’s why we’ve joined the Beyond the Bag Initiative, working alongside other major retailers to address plastic bag waste at an industry-wide scale. Our stores promote bag reuse with a broad assortment of affordable, sustainable and reusable bags for shoppers. Reusing, recycling and reducing the number of bags we use means less trash is sent to the landfill and fewer environmental resources are wasted.
Responsible Sourcing
Whether we’re directly involved in our suppliers’ practices or not, their actions have a fundamental impact on our own social, ethical, and environmental footprint. That’s why it’s critical for us to have a sustainable and ethical supply chain for our products. Our responsible sourcing requires that supply chains respect human rights, ensure safe living and working conditions, prohibit child or forced labor, and minimize any negative environmental and social impact of their practices.
EV Charging Stations
ShopRite helps customers in their efforts to live sustainably by providing EV charging stations for customers while they make their weekly grocery store runs.
Solar Panels
The ShopRite of Brodheadsville flipped the switch on 4,300 solar panels. The 10-acre solar array is located next to the store in Brodheadsville, Pa., and is designed to supply nearly 90 percent of the store’s energy. The Kinsley family, owners and operators of the ShopRite of Brodheadsville, invested in solar power to help reduce electricity costs as well as limit the store’s environmental footprint. Brodheadsville joins several other ShopRite stores in the switch to solar. The following store locations also use renewable energy sourced from solar: ShopRite of Garwood, ShopRite of Clinton, ShopRite of Parkside, ShopRite of Lawnside, and ShopRite of Passaic.
Reducing Energy Consumption
More ShopRite stores are using natural refrigerants that are a sustainable alternative by decreasing energy consumption, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions from refrigerant leaks.
ENGO Efforts
To further our commitment to conserve our planet for future generations, we support over 20 Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations (E-NGOs) at the state & local level that are committed to creating cleaner, more sustainable environments in the communities where we live & operate. We have been a longtime sponsor of organizations like The Audubon Society, Clean Ocean Action, & The Greater Newark Conservancy.
Waste Reduction
We keep materials out of the waste stream & operate own recycling center. Since opening in the 1980s, the center has recycled over 3.1 million tons of materials. Last year, our stores recycled 128,066 tonbs of waxed & corrugated cardboard, 173 tons of newspaper, 93 tons of office fiber, & 23 tons of metal. ShopRite also continues to build its composting rogram at store level, with more than 22 million pounds of food waste composted by stores in 2024.
Awards and Certifications
Whether it is a national Food Recovery Challenge Award from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) or successfully obtaining certifications via the Grocery Stewardship Certification (GSC), our stores are award winners. Last year, we added statewide conservation awards from the Audubon Society and Earth Share for our conservation and community involvement efforts, and a business award from the organization Organix for our successful composting program (see previous article).
Associate Green Teams
ShopRite Associates make up store Green Teams that work together to explore new ways to make stores & facilities more sustainable. They also partner with community organizations to volunteer & help support local environmental efforts. We have more than 100 active Green Teams & the number keeps growing!
Earth Day at ShopRite
Every Earth Day, ShopRite associates partner with environmental nonprofits & local organizations in their communities for cleanups & events. Volunteers beautify their communities by participating in activities like cleaning up litter at parks & beaches, planting flowers in urban communities, & removing invasive species from native plants.
TerraCycle® Partnership
ShopRite is teaming up with TerraCycle® to offer a free recycling pilot program available at 5 ShopRite locations for consumers to recycle their flexible film packaging.
Consumers can drop off their home, pet, and gardening packaging, flexible snack food packaging, and plastic wrap and shopping bags into the ShopRite Collection Kiosks at the following locations:
· ShopRite of Brookdale
· ShopRite of Newark
· ShopRite of Greater Morristown · ShopRite of Livingston
· ShopRite of Stirling
Learn more about the recycling pilot program here.
Participating TerraCycle Products
Thank You to Our Sponsored Organizations
So much is possible when people come together to make a difference. ShopRite works with the following environmental organizations to create more sustainable communities: Audubon Societies of New Jersey & Connecticut, Blue Water Baltimore, Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), Clean Communities of New Jersey, Clean Ocean Action (COA), Coastal Research & Education Society of Long Island (CRESLI), Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, Delaware Estuary Partnership, Delaware Riverkeeper Network (DRN), Delaware River Sojourn, Edmund Niles Hyuck Preserve & Biological Research Station, Friends of Island Beach State Park, Greater Newark Conservancy, Hackensack Riverkeeper, Inc., Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc., Jersey Shore Partnership, KNOX Inc. of CT, New Jersey Highlands Coalition, New Jersey Envirothon, Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, Pollinator Partnership, Raritan Headwaters Association, Soundwaters of CT, The Nature Conservancy and The Wetlands Institute.