10 Years of Zero Waste Progress
Wegmans’ Zero Waste initiative began in 2016 as a focused effort to significantly reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill by rethinking how materials move through stores and operations. The program started as a single-store pilot at our Canandaigua, New York, store with a clear goal: shift materials out of the trash stream and into more responsible outcomes through food donations, composting, and recycling.
Early success demonstrated that meaningful change was possible with the right processes and strong store-level engagement. By 2017, the program expanded to one store in each division, helping refine best practices and confirm the model could scale. In 2021, we completed the rollout of Zero Waste across all our stores, embedding waste reduction into daily operations companywide.
Over the next several years, Wegmans made steady, measurable progress. We surpassed an 80% recycling rate in 2022, exceeded 85% in 2024, and achieved an average companywide recycling rate of nearly 89% in 2025. High-performing stores consistently reach recycling rates of 90% or higher, and their learnings are shared across the organization to drive continuous improvement.
Progress Through Partnerships
Partnerships have played a critical role in scaling the impact of the Zero Waste program. A long-standing collaboration with Natural Upcycling— which began when the company was a small, single-truck operation— has grown alongside Wegmans and now supports nearly every store, helping transform food waste into valuable resources rather than landfill material. At the Wegmans Organic Farm, innovative recycling solutions, in partnership with CRDC Materials, divert hard-to-recycle materials, such as seed bags, plug trays, and agricultural plastic, and turn them into an ingredient for concrete blocks.
Powered by Employees
At every stage, the success of Zero Waste has been driven by employee involvement. From daily sorting decisions and food donation coordination to sharing best practices across stores and divisions, our employees bring the program to life. Their ownership and accountability have transformed Zero Waste from a pilot project into a decade-long commitment that continues to evolve—bringing us closer to our long‑term goal of sending zero waste to landfill.