SpartanNash has made Earth Day 2025 and every day after more special for disabled veterans by finding a new way to upcycle plastic bags. As Progressive Grocer reported, the bags will become accessibility ramps.
The new ramps made from recycled store plastic bags are made possible by the Bags to Boards program, for which SpartanNash, Home Repair Services, and Trex have teamed up for the second time.
The SpartanNash stores collect the bags all year — 157,500 of which go into each ramp. Next, Trex converts the bags and other collected materials like cereal-box liners into composite deck boards. From there, Home Repair Services constructs the ramps for disabled veterans.
In last year's inaugural effort, SpartanNash built ramps for five West Michigan veterans and plans to expand its services further in the community.
While recycling over 5,000 pounds of plastic bags since 2023 goes a long way toward keeping the planet cleaner and cooler, SpartanNash isn't the only store making eco-friendly initiatives to prevent waste.
The country's largest grocer, Kroger, has adapted innovative reusable packaging for several products through its Loop brand. After a Kroger in Arkansas lost power from storms, a local food bank saved 76,833 pounds of food (or 60,000 meals) from spoilage and gave it to the community.
"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," Dave Heglas, senior director of recycled materials at Trex, said in a statement.
SpartanNash's work with plastic waste helps today's veterans while producing results that can last generations. A plastic bag takes 20 years to dissolve — before it breaks into smaller pieces that can find their way into oceans or the stomachs of wildlife. Plus, plastic straws take up to 200 years and bottles 450 years to disintegrate, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
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