BJ's Wholesale Club Recognized by EPA New England for Diverting Food Waste

WESTBOROUGH, Mass., November 19, 2015 /3BL Media/ - BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc., announced today it has been awarded a “Regional Food Recovery Achievement Certificate” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its work in reducing food waste. In August 2014, BJ's became the first wholesale club to participate in the EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge, a national initiative aimed at encouraging businesses and institutions to actively participate in food waste prevention, surplus food donation and food waste diversion from landfill or incineration.

“With Americans throwing out more food than any other type of waste, we are proud to be recognized for our efforts to help keep food out of the landfill and minimize greenhouse gas emissions in the communities we serve,” said Bill Peters, Assistant Vice President of Safety & Regulatory Compliance at BJ’s Wholesale Club.

According to the EPA, New England Food Recovery Challenge participants diverted over 38,000 tons of food to donation and/or composting in 2014.  Furthermore, food waste is the largest stream of materials in our landfills, accounting for 21 percent of the American waste stream. Diverting food waste from landfills also reduces the generation of harmful gases that contribute to climate change. When food is disposed of in a landfill, it decomposes rapidly and become a significant source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. Food and food scraps not fit for consumption can be used to feed the soil by composting or added to anaerobic digestion facilities, which produce biogas that can be used for energy. 

“The hard work and commitment from our New England-based Food Recovery Challenge awardees is demonstrating that protecting the environment, saving money and feeding the hungry can go hand in hand,” said Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA’s New England office. “It’s good old-fashioned common sense that we should use food to feed people and not landfills.”

For more information on EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge, visit  http://www2.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food .