CVS Health, Target, and Walmart will begin piloting the use of reusable bags across a total of nine stores in Northern California this fall. Several reusable bag models from Beyond the Bag Challenge winners, launched by the Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag and managed by Closed Loop Partners, will be used, including ones from ChicoBag, Fill it Forward, Goatote, and 99Bridges.
In addition to the in-store pilots, other winning solutions from the Beyond the Bag Challenge will be piloted and tested in different contexts. Returnity and Eon will pilot through Walmart delivery in select markets. This pilot will test a different part of the retail system, knowing that people shop in various ways––ranging from at home to in store. Bags from Domtar, PlasticFri, and Sway––companies developing alternative materials to single-use plastic––will undergo rigorous material performance and recovery testing to optimize their designs to meet the needs of retailers and customers, and match the specifications of recycling and composting facilities.
"To permanently eliminate the 100 billion single-use plastic bags currently used every year in the U.S., we are working collaboratively to build retail solutions that better meet customer needs while lessening the impact on the environment. By testing new bag innovations in-store, we gain valuable insights that allow us to iterate quickly and expand to more communities," said Kate Daly, managing director of the Center for the Circular Economy at Closed Loop Partners, in a statement. "Knowing that systems change does not happen overnight, these pilots are an essential step to test, incorporate customer and retailer feedback, and improve new solutions, exploring pathways to scale."
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Image: Closed Loop Partners