Meijer Helps Launch Litter Clean-Up Technologies

Meijer is making a $250,000 donation to the Council of the Great Lakes Region Foundation to launch a set of litter capture and clean-up technologies, the BeBot and PixieDrone, in Wisconsin, following a successful year of cleaning up Midwest beaches and waterways.

The first retailer to support this beach and water cleaning technology in the Great Lakes, Meijer is working to preserve the vital waterways within its six-state footprint. It first announced its partnership with the CGLR in 2022 with the deployment of the BeBot and PixieDrone. Despite having a limited number of drones, CGLR partners deployed the technology last year to collect an estimated 18,000 pieces of debris.

"At Meijer, we continue to make significant progress in protecting our beautiful Great Lakes so they can be enjoyed for generations to come," said Erik Petrovskis, director of environmental compliance and sustainability at Meijer, in a statement. "We are grateful to partner with the CGLR, which helps us live our purpose of enriching lives in the communities we serve and expand our environmental partnerships in important markets that directly impact our Midwest footprint."

The donation brings a new BeBot and PixieDrone specifically to Milwaukee Riverkeeper, an organization focused on water and wildlife quality in river corridors throughout the Milwaukee, Menomonee, and Kinnickinnic River Watersheds. This marks the retailer's second partnership in Wisconsin and fifth across the Midwest.