Supermarket Recycling Program

In Massachusetts, grocery stores discard an estimated 90,600 tons of organic waste per year. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) and Massachusetts Food Association (MFA) established a voluntary Supermarket Recycling Program Certification (SRPC) to promote reducing, recycling, and reusing food waste and other organic materials. Stores can obtain SRPC status annually by certifying that they have a comprehensive recycling and reuse program in place. Programs include food donations to local food shelters and diversion of food scraps, cardboard, paper, plants, and wooden boxes to composting. Composting is a cost-effective alternative to waste disposal, which costs $80-$100 per ton. MassDEP provides technical assistance to participating stores to help them develop and promote their program. Participating stores receive positive public recognition and save money in disposal fees.

The goal of the Supermarket Recycling Program is to encourage supermarkets to develop programs to recycle and reuse organic waste and other materials.

As of May 2008, more than 200 stores from six major supermarket chains were participating in the Supermarket Recycling Program. Stores diverting organic materials to reuse or recycling were saving between $3,000 and $20,000 per year in disposal costs. In 2005, participating stores achieved 60-75% recycling rates, collectively recycling 65.9% of supermarkets' total waste stream and avoiding $700,000 in disposal costs.