We strictly adhere to all federal and state regulations, environmental conservation laws, food safety requirements and grocery retail requirements regarding the proper disposal of materials. See the laws below and how we practice due diligence.
Recycling AKA Curbside Recycling of rigid containers like aluminum, glass and plastic
2006, The Mandatory Commercial Recycling Program put into law that all businesses that generated more than four cubic yards of commercial solid waste would be required to arrange for recycling.
We follow all requirements and reassess the effectiveness of our recycling program quarterly! We currently recycle all aluminum, glass and plastic in accordance with the guidelines of our local waste hauler. Check out the Nugget Markets Recycling Guide to find more info on recycling in your area!
We follow all requirements including displaying a sign at each of our locations with the address of the closest recycling center. Since no recycling center exists in many of our communities, we are required to accept redemptions, unless exempted by law.
Please note, most of our locations are exempt from this requirement.
Recycling LDPE AKA Recycling plastic film and other flexible plastics
2006, The At-Store Recycling Program requires stores that offer plastic carryout bags to have a recycling bin for consumers and annually report their purchasing and recycling numbers. This law came into direct conflict in 2018 when China’s SWORD Policy drastically diminished the available market to recycle LDPE.
Plastic Bag Ban
2014, California Plastic Bag Ban prohibited stores from providing a single-use carryout bag to consumers for less than $0.10. All money collected must be used to pay for costs associated with compliance, costs of providing recycled paper bags or reusable grocery bags, or costs of providing educational materials to encourage the use of reusable bags. All reusable carryout bags made from plastic or paper must be made from a minimum of 40% postconsumer recycled material.
We have followed all requirements including: changing the single-use plastic bag to a reusable plastic bag made from 100% recycled material, 40% postconsumer recycled material and 50% green energy; purchasing paper bags made with 40% postconsumer recycled material and certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative; annual creation of reusable bags for purchase by our talented Marketing team; sourcing reusable bags for purchase in-store; creation of ’Don’t forget your reusable bag“ reminders in the parking lot; and promoting reusable bags across all social media channels.
2020 AB2449 AKA SB129 AKA Recycling plastic bags in store
In 2011, Assembly Bill 2449 required that all retailers offering plastic bags at checkout would provide guests a bin to return the bags for recycling. In 2013, Senate Bill 1219 extended this bill and its provisions. This bill remained in effect until January 1, 2020 and has ceased to be extended due to the lack of market availability to recycle plastic bags. We maintain strict adherence to all recycling guidelines and strive to recycle everything we can. While we will continue to recycle the plastic produced within our stores, we will unfortunately have to remove the plastic bag recycling bin at the front of our stores intended for guest use. You can find more information about plastic recycling and a list of other retailers who will take your plastic bags at calrecycle.ca.gov.
RCRA AKA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Laws for Hazardous Waste Management
Updated 2020, The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Laws describe the steps to properly manage, keep record of and transport all materials deemed hazardous. We have followed and continue to follow all requirements, strictly adhering to the most up-to-date best practices. We have a team of Safety Gurus who oversee the day-to-day handling at the store level to ensure our associates and our guests are safe at all times when in store. We also follow all laws set by the RCRA Laws for the proper management of Universal Waste (including electronics) and used oil.
Organics Recycling
2019, The Mandatory Commercial Organics Recycling put into law that all businesses that generated more than four cubic yards of commercial solid waste would be required to arrange for organics recycling.
Since 2015, we have followed and continue to follow all requirements, reassessing the effectiveness of our organics recycling program quarterly! We currently turn our inedible food waste into fertilizer through our partnership with California Safe Soil and into compost through our partnership with our local waste hauler.
Sustainable Seafood
Nugget Markets is proud to offer an extensive selection of sustainable wild-caught and responsibly farmed seafood from certified suppliers across the globe. We look to the guidelines set in place by the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI) as well as the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch to ensure we are strong stewards of our earth and oceans.
For maximum transparency, we require our partner vendors to maintain clearly traceable records back to the original source of the seafood and third-party certifications that are audited regularly throughout the year. These documents include Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) and Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification for aquaculture, and Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification or comprehensive Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs) for wild-caught seafood.
We are dedicated to providing the necessary tools for our guests to make educated choices about the food they purchase. In our fresh seafood cases, you’ll notice our seafood labels list the catch method, as well as a color-coded sustainability ranking:
Green – Best Choice
These species are from sources that are well-managed and caught or farmed in environmentally friendly ways.
Blue – Responsibly Sourced
This species comes from:
Farms and fisheries that have been certified sustainable through one of the recognized governing bodies: MSC, ASC, BAP, GLOBALG.A.P. and GSSI.
Wild fisheries with specific Fishery Improvement Projects that continually demonstrate meaningful progress toward stated goal of MSC certification.
Yellow – Good Alternative
These species are from fisheries or farms with good qualities, but may have concerns with harvest methods or long-term species management.
Red – Unsustainable
Fisheries or farms that have not met the criteria to be considered sustainable at this time.
These rankings take into account many factors, such as species’ abundance and management practices of the fishery or farm. We take great care in labeling our seafood so you can make informed and environmentally responsible purchases at our stores. We encourage our guests to come try some of our favorite seafood:
Farmed New Zealand King Salmon – Green Rated
2-Star BAP-Certified Farmed Newport Shrimp – Blue Rated
4-Star BAP-Certified Farmed Columbia River Steelhead – Green Rated
Hawaiian-Sourced Wild Ahi Tuna and Swordfish – Yellow Rated
Cage Free Chicken Initiative
Beginning January 1, 2022, all eggs sold in California must come from cage-free facilities. Nugget Markets is committed to only selling eggs produced by cage free hens by the end of this year. In fact, more than 72% of all eggs currently sold at Nugget Markets are from cage-free hens. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, the supply of cage-free eggs has been inconsistent for nearly a year. However, egg producers continue to construct new cage free facilities, more hens are being raised cage free and the supply of cage-free eggs is growing weekly. By the end of this year, we will only sell cage-free eggs.
Proposition 12
In addition to the Cage-Free Chicken Initiative, the 2008 Proposition was expanded to apply to pigs. Beginning January 1, 2022, all pork sold in California must come from pigs raised in environments that have met the minimum size requirements; this includes pigs raised inside and outside of California.
California Green Building Code (CALGreen)
Updated 2020, California Green Building Code put into law sustainable requirements for all new construction. In the recent construction of our Corporate Headquarters, we have followed all requirements including but not limited to inventive storm water pollution preventive bioswells, bicycle storage and showers, electric vehicle charging and associate parking spaces, energy and water reduction, recycled content in building materials, and construction waste reduction. In addition, the building includes sustainable materials such as state-of-the-art HVAC equipment, a living green wall, high-energy-index windows and autoshades to reduce heating and cooling, and solar panels.
Green – Best Choice
Blue – Responsibly Sourced
Yellow – Good Alternative
Red – Unsustainable
