October 19, 2021

The Beer Store and Goodwill Industries are pleased to announce their partnership during Waste Reduction Week, promoting collective efforts to protect our shared environment through waste reduction. Used uniforms from The Beer Store’s retail and logistics employees will be donated and recycled through Goodwill to ensure materials are not sent to landfills or incinerated. This partnership will first pilot in London, Ontario and surrounding area where collected materials will be upcycled and remanufactured into signature products for The Beer Store or sent to recycling and shredded for industrial use.

Goodwill Industries, Ontario Great Lakes is a foremost steward of used and end of life consumer goods maximizing social, economic and environmental benefit along the supply chain. Responsible diversion of goods within a circular economy is critical and becoming more acute given the changing dynamic of climate and the environment,” said Hasan Habash, Vice President, Innovation & Enterprise Optimization, Goodwill Industries, Ontario Great Lakes.

“A circular economy or an economic system aimed at eliminating waste and the continual use of natural resources is essential to sustainability. Goodwill is excited to partner with The Beer Store on this innovative initiative as we strive to be the partner of choice providing industry with recycling solutions and remanufactured goods using post-consumer textiles,” said Habash.

“Environmental Leadership is one of the Beer Store’s core values and minimizing waste has been a long-standing objective for the business since inception in 1927. Every day, Ontarians are becoming increasingly aware of the pressures placed on the environment and are more conscious of how waste is managed,” said Ted Moroz, President, The Beer Store/Brewers Distributor Ltd.

“This partnership allows us to explore other materials beyond containers and packaging that can also be part of a circular economy. The Beer Store is pleased to partner with Goodwill on this environmental initiative and support our shared goals,” said Moroz.

The Beer Store is proud of its environmental stewardship efforts and achievements to date, with operational activities reviewed regularly to identify areas where The Beer Store can accomplish more.

Environmental leadership is a core value of the business, and this new partnership is an extension of our ongoing commitment to the environment.

Everyone at the Beer Store is proud of our award-winning returns program.

• In 2007, The Beer Store partnered with the Ontario Deposit Return Program (ODRP), which enabled us to collect any alcohol vessel purchased in Ontario

• In 2018, all recovered wine and spirit containers stacked end to end since the start of the ODRP would reach all the way to the moon and back

• In 2019, the 4 billionth ODRP return was made

• In 2020, over 1.76 billion alcohol containers were collected from Ontario consumers

To learn more about these services or other locations, visit www.thebeerstore.ca or download the Beer Store mobile app.

About the Beer Store: The Beer Store listed 1,034 brands provided by more than 240 brewers in 2020. Over half of the brewers listed are small Ontario brewers. It is a completely open system that allows any brewer in the world to sell their brands in any store they choose. The Beer Store is deeply committed to the responsible sale and not selling to minors and intoxicated people. More than 1.8 million customers were challenged in 2020 alone. It is also one of the greenest retailers globally and collected more than 1.3 billion beer bottles in 2020 (a 77 percent return rate) and over 415 million wine and spirit containers (a 69 percent recovery rate). The Beer Store Employs 7,000 hard-working Ontarians with well-paying full- and part time jobs.

About Goodwill: Job creation for people who face barriers to employment; skills development and building potential of employees while “at work”; and a deliberate focus on advancing people to better careers targeting the needs of the labour market, is the essence of Goodwill Industries’ mission. Opportunities for jobs and training span large, medium and rural communities across Ontario.

Goodwill Industries, Ontario Great Lakes, is a separately incorporated and governed non-profit charitable organization serving across Ontario. Annually, Goodwill serves over 25,000 job seekers and employs 1,100 individuals made possible by collecting donations from, and reselling to, millions of generous and environmentally conscious Ontario citizens. Ultimately Goodwill recycles and diverts over 36 million pounds from landfills.

FOR MORE INFORMATION EMAIL: mediainquiries@thebeerstore.ca