McCaffrey's Program Recycles Store Waste

McCaffrey’s Market in Princeton, N.J., was really green today. Not only was a bagpiper roaming the aisles in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, the three-store retailer launched a unique organic waste recycling program that turns fresh food waste and anything not metal, plastic or glass into all-natural fertilizer.

“We’ve always been actively involved in anything that benefits the community, and this is really an extension of that belief,” Jim McCaffrey, the chain’s affable president, told me during a demonstration of how the program works. Indeed, it’s truly unique to see how thorough the process is, right down to the large rubber bands used to secure the compost bin liners used in the receptacles.

The receptacles are everywhere, along with posters reminding employees to separate any waste that’s recyclable. It required a significant effort to educate everyone in the store, according to Rocco D’Antonio, a principal in Organic Diversion, the firm coordinating the initiative. READ MORE »