Where the millions of plastic bags recycled at ShopRite go and what becomes of them

RECYCLED INTO WHAT? My cart at the ShopRite in Paramus, N.J., is nearly filled with plastic shopping bags that are stuffed with more bags and lots of plastic food wrapping and plastic film destined for a recycling plant in Elizabeth, N.J. 

PLASTIC BAG BAN: After Paramus banned single-use plastic bags, ShopRite, Whole Foods Market and other supermarkets in the borough began bagging food purchases in paper, above. ShopRite's paper bag contains 60% recycled content and is itself recyclable.

Materials collected at supermarkets

turned into community playgrounds

Editor's note: This post has been updated with ShopRite recycling statistics, and a photo of Costco's recycled plastic carton that prevents the breakage of 9 million eggs a year.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- The massive recycling effort at the hundreds of ShopRite supermarkets in New Jersey and nearby states yields new community playgrounds.

You can learn about the many tons of plastic and cardboard ShopRites recycle in a 2-minute video on "sustainability" from the Wakefern Food Corp.

Wakefern is the retailers' cooperative that owns and operates 344 retail supermarkets (see a link to the video below).

Recycling them into new plastic bags doesn't make sense as more towns and cities ban those bags, and as alarms are raised over microplastics poisoning our food and water supply.

What are microplastics? Here are 2 paragraphs from "How to Eat Less Plastic," the June 2020 cover story in Consumer Reports magazine:

"Cracking open a brand new plastic bottle or tearing a wrapper off a sandwich releases fragments of plastic that we might end up ingesting.

"Reliable research now shows that tiny bits of plastic -- called microplastics -- are in our food, drinking water, the air we breathe, and, yes, inside our bodies."  

ShopRite statistics 

Here are some of the recycling statistics for Wakefern's Elizabeth, N. J., processing plant:

1. Recycled more than 2.6 million tons since the 1970s.
2. In 2019, recycling totals include 135,873 tons of cardboard, 4,667 tons of plastic, 428 tons of newspaper and 762 tons of office paper.
3. In 2019, the plant composted more than 11,000 tons of food waste, and donated more than 5,000 tons of food to food banks.

Can more be done?

Although ShopRite, Whole Foods, H Mart and other supermarkets in Paramus provide paper bags to shoppers who don't bring reusable ones for their purchases, Tous les Jours, the bakery concession inside the Korean supermarket on Route 17, charges 30 cents for each paper bag.

And Aldi supermarkets in New Jersey have never provided plastic or paper bags to customers, but you can purchase a reusable bag for 10 cents.

A LOT OF YOLKS: Costco Wholesale officials say cartons made from 100% recycled plastic prevent breakage, saving more than 9 million eggs a year from landfills.

Recycling at Costco

Sustainability programs at Costco Wholesale, a global retailer, also are impressive.

"In some cases, we've been able to eliminate plastic altogether," Sheri Flies, Costco vice president of global sustainability and compliance, wrote in the May 2020 Costco Connection magazine.

For example, Costco swapped plastic for paperboard in sheet-cake trays, removed plastic hangers in some clothes and replaced plastic bags with compostable ones.

"If we can't eliminate plastic, we try to use less of it, through redesign," Flies said. "We reduced our plastic packaging by 6 million pounds in 2019."

Another goal is to use recycled plastic in plastic packaging, "such as increasing the recycled content in our Kirkland Signature 16-ounce water bottles to 50% in the U.S."

When plastic makes sense

"Kirkland Signature egg cartons ... reduce food waste, also a priority for us," Flies said, adding:

"These plastic cartons prevent breakage, saving over 9 million eggs a year from landfills and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

"They use 100% recycled PET (polyethylene terephthalate), which makes them 40% lighter than pulp cartons.

"These lighter weight and sturdier cartons enable our shipper to pack 50% more cartons on a truck, reducing truck trips from the farms to our locations and therefore reducing carbon emissions."

Read: How To Eat Less Plastic

Watch: ShopRite's Recycling

 and Composting Programs 

Watch: Plastic Wars from FRONTLINE

Costco is delivering groceries to homes; ShopRite: We're cheaper than Wegmans

Fresh farmed and wild-caught fish fillets in refrigerated cases at Costco Wholesale, 2 Teterboro Landing in Teterboro.

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

Costco Wholesale is the latest retailer to deliver groceries and fresh food to homes.

Now, when you click "Grocery" on the Costco.com website, you can choose same-day delivery of all groceries, including fresh, "in most metropolitan areas."

When I put in my zipcode in northern New Jersey, I was told the service is not yet available, but that I would be informed by email when it is.

Costco members also can arrange for 2-day delivery nationwide of non-perishable food and sundries, and there is no delivery fee for orders of $75 or more.

From warehouse to you

About 2,000 Costco products, including fresh food, are eligible for delivery by Instacart, which runs the same-day website and arranges for your order to be brought to your home, the warehouse giant said of the new CostcoGrocery program.

Orders can be delivered in as little as 2 hours, and a signature is required for delivery.

Executive members receive their 2% cash reward on "the warehouse merchandise sell price, but not on the 15% to 17% markup or the 10% service fee," Costco said.

Members also receive their 2% cash reward on the order total charged to the Costco Anywhere Visa Card.

Warehouse still cheapest

Still, items purchased in the warehouse "will provide you with the lowest possible price," Costco said.

"Members will enjoy the same superior quality products found in our warehouse. After we receive your order, items are carefully selected at your local Costco warehouse and delivered by Instacart," the company said.

Costco said non-members may also purchase on Instacart.com "at a higher price than members purchasing on Costco Same-Day." 

Other grocery delivery services are offered by ShopRite supermarkets, Amazon, Whole Foods Markets, Peapod and FreshDirect.

Although Costco is just now joining them, the warehouse giant offers prices on groceries and fresh food that usually undercut competitors.

The Costco Wholesale in Teterboro is offering instant savings on two 40-ounce jars of Victoria White Linen Marinara Sauce through next Wednesday ($5.79 after $3 off). 

Other instant savings at Costco include 580 Ziploc Sandwich Bags for $8.59, above; a dozen 10-ounce bottles of Naked Juice-brand Fruit Smoothies for $10.59; and two 34.5-ounce pouches of Quaker Simply Granola with Oats, Honey, Raisins and Almonds for $5.39 after $2.60 off, photos below.

ShopRite v. Wegmans

ShopRite, a retailers' cooperative of supermarkets in the Northeast, has long claimed to be the low-price leader among traditional food stores.

Now, ShopRite stores in northern New Jersey have begun running full-page ads, comparing prices on 32 items at ShopRite and Wegmans, which opened a supermarket in Montvale in late September.

"Your ShopRite total: $106.35," the ad says of the purchases made at the two stores on Nov. 15. "Your Wegmans total: $158.76. ShopRite saves you $52.41 [or] 33%."

Items include Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Scott Bath Tissue, Golden Pineapples, Atlantic Salmon Fillet, Sabra Hummus and Organic Yams. 

The ad I saw ran in The Record of Woodland Park, my local daily newspaper.

The ShopRite ad misspelled Wegmans as "Wegman's."

On Tuesday, I picked up 1-pound boxes of Ronzoni 100% Whole Wheat Spaghetti and 100% Whole Wheat Rotini on sale for 88 cents each (normally $1.69 each) at the ShopRite on Forest Avenue and Route 4 in Paramus. The store also sells 1-pound packages of Luigi Vitelli-brand Organic Whole Wheat Pasta in a variety of shapes for $1.50 each.

ShopRite's own 100% Whole Wheat Spaghetti in a 16-ounce box was $1.29.

A 5-pound box of Sweet Potatoes was on sale for $2.49. The price will be cut to $1.99 on Sunday, according to a newspaper flier I received today.

I baked some of the sweet potatoes, and boiled the rest with whole garlic cloves, then drained and mashed them with extra-virgin olive oil and a variety of seasonings, including red-pepper flakes, curry powder, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, dried mint and black pepper. Both sweet potatoes and whole wheat pasta are good bread substitutes.

Small pomegranates were on sale at the Paramus ShopRite for $2.50 each, but my wife picked up a half-dozen larger pomegranates, weighing a total of 8 pounds, at the Teterboro Costco for the same price.

A liter bottle of ShopRite's Sparkling Cider from Spain was on sale for $1.88.

I was surprised to see Sparkling Apple Cider with 100% juice, right, has more sugar in each 8-ounce serving than Sparkling Peach with only 25% juice and added sugar.