Toronto, ON June 2, 2006 – Shoppers across Ontario can now choose an alternative to the standard plastic grocery bag as A&P Canada launches the new hand-held, machine washable, reusable shopping bag. Made from 100 per cent recycled material, this brightly coloured, foldable bag is an easy, affordable and environmentally friendly alternative to the traditional plastic grocery bag.

“We have been committed to reducing our impact on the environment for many years through our in-house plastic recycling program,” said Doug Brummer, Vice President, Marketing and Advertising. “By encouraging our customers to purchase this new reusable shopping bag and use it every time they shop, we believe we can reduce our total bag usage by 20 per cent.”

Priced at just $0.99, the reusable shopping bag holds up to 50 pounds of goods – the equivalent to two or three conventional plastic bags. “If our customers use this bag on a regular basis, we could see a total reduction in excess of 50 million plastic bags a year,” added Brummer.

“We are very encouraged by A&P Canada's initiative to reduce one-way plastic bag usage and hope that consumers will make the decision to choose a reusable shopping bag,” said Jo-Anne St. Godard, Executive Director, The Recycling Council of Ontario. “These kinds of corporate programs are key to diverting more waste from Ontario's landfills and resolving our litter issues.”

The reusable bag is a new element to A&P Canada's existing recycling program aimed at reducing waste from the plastic bags and film used within its stores. Since 1996, A&P, Dominion, Ultra Food & Drug and The Barn customers have been able to bring back their plastic bags and deposit them into recycling bins at store locations across Ontario. As of June 6, 2006, Loeb locations will also offer the recycling program.

The used plastic bags collected at our stores are combined with other plastic films at store level and sold to companies who use the recycled plastic to manufacture new bags containing post consumer recycled film. A&P Canada expects to recycle approximately 900,000 lbs of plastic film, the equivalent of 60 million bags, in 2006.

The reusable shopping bag is now available at all A&P, Dominion, Ultra Food & Drug, The Barn, and Loeb stores across Ontario.

Plastic Bag Facts
- The average Ontarian uses approximately 200 plastic bags each year
- Annually, over 2.5 billion bags are in circulation in Ontario alone
- A plastic bag takes 400 years to decompose
- Over 90% of Ontarians reuse their carry out shopping bags for carrying lunches, storing other recyclables, collecting other household garbage

About A&P Canada
Serving Canadians since 1927, The Great Atlantic & Pacific Company of Canada is a wholly owned subsidiary of METRO INC. and operates more than 235 grocery stores under the A&P, Dominion, Ultra Food and Drug, The Barn, Loeb and Food Basics banners throughout Ontario. For more information, visit www.apcanada.ca.

Recycling Council of Ontario
The Recycling Council of Ontario is a not-for-profit organization committed to minimizing society's impact on the environment by eliminating waste. RCO's mission is to inform and educate all members of society about the generation of waste, the avoidance of waste, the more efficient use of resources and the benefits and/or consequences of these activities. Since its inception in 1978, RCO has actively assisted municipalities, corporations, other organizations and individuals in reducing their waste.

For more information contact:

Tammy Smitham
Director, Communications
A&P Canada
416-234-6081
smithamt@aptea.com

Tara Hendela
Consultant
Hill and Knowlton Canada
416.413.4649
tara.hendela@hillandknowlton.ca

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