Target, the second-largest discount retailer in the country, is adding recycling stations to each of its more than 1,700 storefronts nationwide. The announcement came as a kickoff to the company’s month-long celebration of Earth Day, but the recycling bins are a part of a permanent recycling effort.
Customers will now have a place to recycle aluminum, glass and plastic beverage containers, plastic bags, MP3 players, cell phones and ink cartridges. Target executives expect the bins to pay for themselves with revenue generated from selling recycled products to companies that will reuse them to make new products.
Though the company has already taken steps to recycle and reuse materials when possible, this is the first time the public can participate in the effort. In 2009, Target recycled 26 million plastic hangers and 950 million pounds of cardboard.