Walmart Canada is launching a cross-Canada pilot program to allow customers to recycle their reusable shopping bags.
Under this program, customers will be able to send their excess or damaged Walmart reusable blue shopping bags to TerraCycle, who will wash them and donate them to charitable partners, including Food Banks Canada, or recycle them.
The recycled bags will be turned into raw materials that can be used to make items such as shipping pallets and outdoor furniture, Walmart said.
“This unique program will allow Canadians to send excess or damaged reusable blue bags to TerraCycle for free to give them a second life, to prevent them from taking up too much space at home or in the landfills,” said Jennifer Brabazza, senior manager of sustainability at Walmart Canada, in a statement.
Customers interested in participating can register for the program on the TerraCycle website.
According to TerraCycle, bags can be sent in a box or shipping envelope (there must be a minimum of five bags for a shipment) and the program provides a free shipping label.
The program’s webpage states that registration limits apply and that if the program is full, clients will be added to a waiting list.
Canada banned single-use plastic shopping bags in December 2022, along with other single-use plastic items including straws and cutlery.
However, Walmart Canada stopped carrying plastic bags in April of that year, saying the change would help prevent more than 680 million plastic bags from entering circulation each year.