Wegmans announced yesterday that it will remove single-use plastic grocery bags from its remaining seven Maryland stores by July 28. The bags were previously eliminated from one Maryland store in 2020 upon the introduction of a plastic bag ban in Howard County.
This decision is in line with the company’s vision to end plastic grocery bag dissemination companywide by the end of this year. Although paper grocery bags will continue to be available, Wegmans hopes to encourage customers to bring reusable bags, the best alternative to single-use plastic, says Wegmans in a statement.
The Columbia, Maryland store in Howard County has already incentivized the use of reusable bags by charging five cents per paper bag. This has caused 20-25 percent of bags used to be paper; the remaining shoppers (75-80 percent) either opt for reusable bags or no bags.
Wegmans is also committed to eliminating single-use plastic bags at its remaining 18 Pennsylvania locations. This companywide commitment to reduce single-use plastic packaging is consistent with its goal to reduce in-store plastic packaging from fossil fuels, along with other single-use plastics, by 10 million pounds by 2024.
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