Our approach to plastics
We are assessing the use of plastic in our business to reduce or eliminate it wherever we can. Our efforts are centered around three distinct and complementary pillars:
Reduce - limiting the amount of single-use plastics used in our operations
Reuse - scaling up reuse models where they make sense
Recycle - designing all packaging to be compatible with recycling systems across Canada
Canada Plastics Pact
In 2020, we helped create and became a founding member of the Canada Plastics Pact, part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Global Plastics Pact network. Coalition partners share the vision of changing from a linear take-make-waste system to a more circular plastic packaging economy.
The goal is to improve landfill diversion rates, while increasing the quality and quantity of recycled material. The Pact brings together government, retail and consumer brands, resin makers, recyclers and experts up and down the value chain, to make better packaging decisions that support a circular economy.
Golden Design Rules
Established by the world’s largest retail and consumer goods companies, the Golden Design Rules (GDRs) set high standards for packaging design, by reducing materials, eliminating problematic elements, and improving compatibility with recycling systems across the country. We believe in these rules and have embedded them as standard practice across our control brands and in-store packaged products. Additionally, we continue to champion them with our national brand suppliers by encouraging them to adopt the GDRs where possible. We informed our national brand vendors that our merchants will begin incorporating the use of the GDRs in product packaging as a factor in all product listings starting January 1, 2025.
In-store initiatives
¹ excludes T&T®
Reduce, reuse, recycle
Reduce, reuse, recycle
We overhauled the coffee aisle by replacing unrecyclable packaging with new packaging made from a minimum of 80% paper content using renewable, recyclable and sustainably sourced Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC) certified tree fibres.
100% of our President’s Choice®, no name® and PC® Organics whole bean and ground coffee products are in recyclable packaging.
Plus, our industry leading PC® coffee packaging earned a 2022 Global Packaging Award for Package Innovation and Sustainable Design.
Eliminating plastic bags
Eliminating plastic bags
In 2023, we celebrated the final exit of plastic bags in our stores, signifying the end of a 15-year journey started in 2007 when we implemented our pay-for-bag program to help reduce plastic waste.
