Based on a recent survey given to their customers, SPUD.ca CEO Peter van Stolk identified single-use plastic as the gravest environmental concern Canadians have for future generations. Although the Canadian government released an action plan for reducing plastic pollution by 2021, van Stolk asked customers in an email that announced the ban: “Why to wait to take action?” As a first step, SPUD.ca has discontinued the sale of all single-use plastic water bottles from their website. All still, sparkling, and flavoured water will now only be available in glass bottles and aluminum cans.
Van Stolk shared this insight along with the announcement of the ban: “We recognize that this ban is only a small piece of the puzzle when it comes to taking greater responsibility for the packaging we distribute, but we believe it is more important to start the process than it is to be perfect. At SPUD.ca, we want to exemplify to our community and to the industry that every step is important, and that although the journey to zero waste is long, together we can get there.”
This ban comes just months after the company launched its Pink Bag Takeback program – an initiative that encourages SPUD.ca customers to return the packaging of Be Fresh products, the company’s private-label brand, into their grocery bins that are used to deliver customer’s groceries on a weekly basis. These reusable grocery bins are then picked up by SPUD.ca‘s delivery fleet and the Be Fresh packaging is recycled through the company’s partnership with Terracycle, a specialized recycling organization.
