NexTrex® Incentive Program Rewards Suppliers for Recycling Milestones

Price Chopper Supermarkets Earns Top Honors for 2020 Recycling Efforts

Price Chopper Supermarkets Earns Top Honors for 2020 Recycling Efforts

Dave Schmitz, Director of Transportation, Price Chopper Supermarkets

WINCHESTER, Va., July 06, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — One of the largest plastic recycling initiatives in North America, Trex Company’s NexTrex® Retail Recycling Program makes being sustainable simple and satisfying by rewarding participants for collecting post-consumer plastic film. Launched in 2020, the NexTrex Supplier Incentive Program encourages retailer participation by awarding points for their contributions, which they can use to redeem Trex rewards. Coming out on top at the completion of the program’s inaugural year was Price Chopper Supermarkets, which collected and contributed more than 1.5 million pounds of recycled post-consumer plastic film to be repurposed into beautiful, high-performance Trex composite decking.

“We applaud Price Chopper’s outstanding efforts to create a more sustainable business model – and community – by actively promoting and participating in the NexTrex recycling initiative,” said Dave Heglas, senior director, Supply Chain Excellence for Trex Company. “While taking top honors in our Supplier Incentive Program is a noteworthy achievement in itself, the real win is that we are working together to promote environmental stewardship while diverting over a million pounds of discarded plastic film that would otherwise end up in our oceans and landfills.”

Each year, Trex repurposes more than 450 million pounds of polyethylene plastic waste in the making of its world-famous composite decking, which comprises 95% recycled material. Among its largest sources are grocery stores and other retailers who partner with Trex to responsibly dispose of plastic shopping bags and polyethylene film used to wrap products and pallets. Through the NexTrex Supplier Incentive Program, participating retailers can earn points for achieving a variety of actions and milestones, including years of participation, annual program growth, in-store program promotion, proactive community engagement and more.

During 2020, Price Chopper Supermarkets collected more than 1.5 million pounds of post-consumer plastic waste across its 132 stores located in Upstate NY, VT, CT, MA, NH, and PA. To achieve the program’s pinnacle “Gold Status,” the northeast chain went beyond the basics in its participation and execution.

“Price Chopper has been a committed Trex recycling partner for many years and fully embraced the NexTrex incentive program,” explained Heglas. “In addition to prominently positioning collection bins at the front of all of their stores, they promoted the initiative with in-store signage and proactively encouraged shoppers to recycle their discarded plastic bags and film through public service announcements (PSAs) that aired over the loudspeakers in every store, every day, every hour!”

In addition to the honor of earning Gold Status in the program, Price Chopper will receive Trex benches that can be positioned at the company’s stores or donated to places or organizations in the retailer’s local communities.

Approximately 32,000 stores nationwide participate in the NexTrex Retail Recycling Program. After collection at these retail sites, the recycled plastic material is sent to local distribution centers, where it is sorted and shipped to Trex’s manufacturing facilities in Virginia and Nevada.

“While COVID concerns early in the pandemic caused some retailers to pause bin collections, the majority of programs have resumed following updated CDC guidance,” noted Heglas. “In fact, more than 60 percent of our retail recycling partners showed positive growth in their collections and contributions from 2019 to 2020.”

Participating in the NexTrex recycling program is easy for retail stores of any size. Trex provides participants with recycling bins, instructional videos, promotional materials and a list of qualifying recyclable materials, which include everyday items such as grocery and retail bags, bread bags, case overwraps, newspaper sleeves, bubble wrap and more. For more information about how to participate in the NexTrex Supplier Incentive Program, visit Trex.com/Recycling.

About Trex Company
Trex Company is the world’s largest manufacturer of high performance wood-alternative decking and railing, with nearly 30 years of product experience. The #1 brand in outdoor living is proud to be to Fortune magazine’s 2020 list of the world’s 100 Fastest-Growing Companies and to Forbes’ 2021 List of America’s Best Mid-Sized Companies. Stocked in more than 6,700 retail locations worldwide, Trex outdoor living products offer a wide range of style options with fewer ongoing maintenance requirements than wood, as well as an environmentally responsible choice. For more information, visit trex.com. You also can follow Trex on Twitter (@Trex_Company), Instagram (@trexcompany) Pinterest (trexcompany), or Houzz (trex-company-inc), “like” Trex on Facebook, or view product and demonstration videos on the brand’s YouTube channel (TheTrexCo).

Contact: Anna Figy or Sara Tatay
L.C. Williams & Associates
312-565-4634 or 312-565-4618
afigy@lcwa.com or statay@lcwa.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/27ccac35-cc90-48f8-8837-1a7a055fa8c6