Keep Framingham Beautiful warns shopping carts are widespread, urges retailer cooperation

Keep Framingham Beautiful volunteers told the Framingham City Environmental Subcommittee on March 3 that shopping carts from multiple regional retailers are appearing across the city — in wetlands, behind businesses and at bus stops — and that local volunteers have collected, documented and relayed cart locations to stores and third‑party recovery firms.

The issue has broader consequences because many of the carts end up rusting in wetlands, blocking sidewalks and collecting trash, Deborah Kaplan, a Keep Framingham Beautiful volunteer, said. “The issue of wayward or errand shopping carts really turns out to be a bigger problem than most people are aware,” Kaplan told the subcommittee.

Kaplan outlined where volunteers have found carts — Route 30 near McDonald’s; behind Chick‑fil‑A and Shoppers World; the woods near Butterworth Park; and bus stops next to Lord Chesterfield Apartments — and described efforts to contact retailers. “Some companies have a way to go get them. Some companies have no way to go get them,” she said, citing varied retailer responses: some replace lost carts, some retain private cart‑recovery vendors, and some have no retrieval program.

Volunteers have connected several retailers with private recovery companies. Kaplan told the subcommittee she helped arrange contact between local stores and a Woburn‑based firm, Cart Recovery, and reported that Walmart has used a vendor called Kept (k‑e‑p‑t) in other markets. She said Target previously retained a recovery service but later discontinued it because corporate offices cut expenses.

Committee members discussed next steps without taking formal action. Councilor Alexander suggested inviting store managers and corporate representatives to a subcommittee meeting to discuss costs and possible coordinated solutions; Councilor Malek recommended collecting hard numbers from recovery firms as a baseline for potential ordinance or program design. Members noted the city Department of Public Works will remove some carts found on public property but generally will not search private property and lacks a citywide inventory of recovered carts.

Subcommittee members also raised equity and practicality concerns: some residents rely on carts to transport groceries when they lack cars, and enforcement or technology‑only solutions could create new burdens. “There are folks who are using these shopping carts because they're buying groceries,” a councilor said, urging solutions that do not inadvertently penalize people who rely on carts for basic needs.

The subcommittee asked staff to pursue next steps: collect example municipal ordinances, seek data from private recovery vendors on pickups in Framingham, and invite store managers or corporate representatives plus DPW to a future meeting for discussion. No ordinance or formal policy was proposed or voted on at the March 3 meeting.

Ending: The subcommittee agreed to continue the topic at a future meeting, pursue data from cart‑recovery firms and try to convene retailers, DPW and volunteers for a follow‑up discussion.