Costco is undertaking a five-year action plan to reduce the use of plastic packaging. The company markets close to 150 million rotisserie chickens annually, currently presented in two-part PET containers. Following test in Canada, the Company has introduced a flexible plastic bag with insulating capability for their chickens. The change will reduce plastic use for this application by 75 percent, representing a saving of 17 billion pounds of resin annually and a reduction of 4,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide released. This, according to a Company claim will be equivalent to the output of 1,000 trucks annually when fully implemented across 850 warehouses globally.
Tim Wahlquist responsible for Costco packaging stated, “The goal is to reduce packaging waste while still protecting products, ensuring food safety and complying with laws and regulations. As a corporate policy, Costco will replace plastic packaging with potentially recyclable content as feasible alternatives become available.