SpartanNash Converts Grocery Bags Into Accessibility Ramps for Veterans
Food solutions provider SpartanNash has teamed up for the second time with Home Repair Services and eco-friendly decking business Trex Co. in honor of Earth Day (April 22) in the Bags to Boards program, turning plastic grocery bags recycled at company-operated stores into accessibility ramps for military veterans.
“By upcycling returned plastic bags into accessibility ramps for veterans, we are giving the gift of mobility in a sustainable, eco-friendly way,” noted SpartanNash Chief Communications Officer Adrienne Chance. “It’s a People First program that brings our store guests, associates, nonprofit partners and community together to serve.”
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Each ramp is made from 157,500 recycled bags collected year-round at SpartanNash-operated stores, including Family Fare, Martin’s Super Market, D&W Fresh Market and Forest Hills Foods. Trex converts the plastic bags – produce bags, cereal box liners, bubble wrap and more – into composite decking boards. SpartanNash associates work with Home Repair Services, a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based organization providing income-based home repairs for those in need, to make the accessibility ramps.
“Sustainability is at the core of everything we do – and this project exemplifies how recycling can create real, tangible impact,” said Dave Heglas, senior director of recycled materials at Winchester, Va.-based Trex. “By transforming everyday plastic waste into something as meaningful as accessible home ramps for veterans, we’re not just reducing landfill waste – we’re building pathways to better lives. We’re honored to be part of a collaboration that brings together environmental responsibility and community care in such a powerful way.”
Last year, in its first partnership of this kind, SpartanNash built accessibility ramps for five veterans in west Michigan. This year, the food solutions company will expand the Bags to Boards program to other communities in its footprint, building ramps in west Michigan and further afield.
More than 5,000 pounds of plastic bags have been recycled at SpartanNash’s stores since 2023.
With 20,000 associates, Grand Rapids-based SpartanNash operates two complementary business segments: food wholesale and grocery retail. Its global supply chain network serves wholesale customers that include independent and chain grocers, national retail brands, e-commerce platforms, and U.S. military commissaries and exchanges. On the retail side, SpartanNash operates 200 brick-and-mortar grocery stores, primarily under the banners of Family Fare, Martin’s Super Markets, and D&W Fresh Market, in addition to dozens of pharmacies and fuel centers. The company is No. 45 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2024 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.
