ShopRite Partners With Colgate on School Challenge
Three powerhouse companies are banding together not only to promote sustainability, but also to help provide innovative school supplies to local communities. Colgate, ShopRite and international recycling leader TerraCycle have united to sponsor the Colgate and ShopRite School Challenge that allows participating schools to compete for prize packages worth a combined total of more than $92,000, consisting of new desks, chairs, backpacks, pencil cases and pens — all made from recycled oral care waste and packaging.
“In a year of quarantining, virtual school schedules, and missing family and friends, TerraCycle, ShopRite and Colgate have come together to give students, teachers and all the communities affected by COVID-19 something to look forward to when we’re back in the classroom for the 2021-2022 school year,” said Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of Trenton, New Jersey-based TerraCycle. “So while we wait and do our part to end the pandemic, this challenge is about giving the communities we serve a chance to start the year off right with new school supplies that are not only made from oral care waste, but are something to smile about.”
Until June 30, schools located in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut and Maryland can go to https://www.terracycle.com/en-US/contests/colgateshopriteschoolcontest2021 and register for the Colgate and ShopRite School Challenge. Participants are encouraged to collect and recycle used oral care waste and packaging, such as empty toothpaste tubes, toothbrushes and floss containers, through the Colgate Oral Care Recycling Program. With each shipment sent for recycling, participants earn "Supply Credits.” The school with the most credits will be awarded the grand-prize package this fall: a set of school supplies made from recycled oral care waste that has been cleaned, processed and remolded. The first and second runner-up schools will also receive sets of recycled school supplies similar to the grand prize.
Additionally, schools can earn extra Supply Credits by voting online on the contest page for the registered school of their choice.
“ShopRite is excited to work again with partners Colgate and TerraCycle to help students and schools, especially after such a difficult year,” said Robert Zuehlke, manager of corporate social responsibility for ShopRite. “The School Challenge helps us teach students that even small actions to protect the environment can pay big dividends in our communities.”
“The Colgate brand is in more homes than any other, so we believe we have the responsibility — and opportunity — to create a healthier, more sustainable future for all,” added Dana Medema, VP of oral care for New York-based Colgate North America. “Partnering with TerraCycle and ShopRite will help us not only eliminate plastic waste, but also convert used packaging into valuable, beautiful products for our communities. That's a big win for the triple bottom line!”
The largest retailer-owned cooperative in the United States, Keasbey, New Jersey-based Wakefern Food Corp. comprises 50-plus members that independently own and operate more than 350 supermarkets under the ShopRite, The Fresh Grocer, Price Rite Marketplace, Gourmet Garage and Dearborn Market banners in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. The company is No. 25 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2020 listing of North America’s top retailers of food and consumables.
