Sustainability 

people

Sustainability is in our Roots

For more than four decades, ShopRite has supported sustainability efforts - both in our stores and in our communities - that help protect our environment. Learn more about some of the ways we are working to create a more sustainable future to live. work and shop in. 

How Recycle® Hits Our Shelves

ShopRite Own Brands makes recyling a whole lot easier. 

ShopRite Teams Go Green

Over one hundred Green Teams are helping the community. 

An Award-Winning Composting Effort

ShopRite awarded for innovative and successful composting program. 

Animal Welfare

Wakefern Food Corp. has a longstanding commitment to corporate social responsibility and sustainability. An integral part of our responsibility is the humane treatment of animals. We believe it is our moral and ethical obligation to make certain that animals are raised, handled, transported, and processed in ways that ensure they are safe and free from cruelty, abuse, or neglect. We work diligently with our suppliers to ensure human handling practices for all animals that provide our customers with meat, poultry, and dairy products. Because animal welfare is import to us, we require all our supplies to ensure that the animals raised for food production are reared in accordance with out Sustainable Animal Welfare and Animal Care Guidelines and Standards and all legal requirements. 

Waste Reduction

We also keep materials out of the waste stream and operate our very own recycling center. The facility has recycled over 2.6 million tons of materials since first opening in the late 1970s. Last year, our stores recycled 128,648 tons of waxed and corrugated cardboard, 421 tons of newspaper, 132 tons of office paper, and 38 tons of metal. ShopRite also composted more than 8,200 tons of food waste at our stores.

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).

Green Teams

Green Teams are groups of associates that work together to explore new ways to make our stores and facilities more sustainable. They also partner with community organizations and help support local environmental efforts. Right now, we have more than 100 Green Teams, and the number keeps growing.

ShopRite Earth Day Challenge

The annual ShopRite Earth Day Challenge dares volunteers to beautify their communities by cleaning up litter at local parks and beaches. Last year, approximately 4,000 volunteers using one of our FREE Earth Day clean up kits-gathered in hundreds of locations in five states. To date, 55,000 volunteers have participated in the challenge over the past decade.

Planting One Tree at a Time

In partnership with One Tree Planted, ShopRite has helped plant over 50,000 trees and this year we're committed to help plant 25,000 more trees to promote a cleaner environment, create habitat, and beautify communities.

2021 Colgate® and ShopRite® School Challenge

After a year far from school and friends, Colgate® and ShopRite® are offering kids a memorable back to school. Recycle and vote for your school to win amazing recycled and upcycled supplies including desks, backpacks, pens and more!

SHOPRITE IN OUR COMMUNITIES

When communities come together to improve the environment, they can really make a difference. ShopRite has worked for many years to cultivate partnerships with environmental organizations in our communities, and each year we add a few more. We now sponsor a number of national and statewide environmental organizations, and hundreds of other community groups.

beach clean up
beach clean up

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.