Big Y goes bagless early to help curb plastic pollution

Aug. 7, 2019 | Danielle Eaton
daniellee@thereminder.com

Big Y stores across Connecticut and Massachusetts are joining the growing trend of eliminating single-use plastic bags within stores and instead, encouraging customers to bring reusable bags when doing their grocery shopping.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo

SPRINGFIELD – When checking out at Big Y stores and gas station convenience stores, customers will no longer be offered a single-use plastic bag to carry their items in.

The decision to eliminate the use of plastic bags in stores and gas stations was announced in January, and initially scheduled to be in place by 2020. While some locations such as Table and Vine and Big Y Express Stations have been without plastic bags for a while, in July, the store announced its decision to get rid of the single-use bags in all stores earlier than expected, on Aug. 1.

Big Y Sales and Merchandising Director, Raanan Hartman, told Reminder Publishing when Big Y first made the announcement about the bags being eliminated by 2020 they wanted to make sure they were ready for the change. Now, Hartman said, they believe they are, so the date to get rid of the bags was moved up.

The decision to get rid of the single-use plastic bags was “for the environment, first and foremost,” Hartman said. He said Big Y sees the reason why towns across the country and the state of California are implementing plastic bag bans, and that there is a benefit in doing so.

Big Y, prior to the switch, was distributing 100 million single-use plastic bags in its stores. “If that’s us, imagine what we’re doing as a country,” Hartman said. He also said there are not a lot of benefits to using plastic bags.

Instead of plastic bags, customers are encouraged to bring reusable bags to do their grocery shopping. If they don’t already own a reusable bag, Big Y is offering the chance to buy one for $1 and get one for $1 until Aug. 21. 

For those who don’t want to use reusable bags, or simply forget theirs, customers will be offered the chance to purchase a handled paper bag for 10 cents. However, Hartman said Big Y’s goal is not to exchange one single-use bag for another, because ultimately paper bags are still not good for the environment. “The ultimate goal is to get reusable bags into the consumer’s hands,” he said.

Big Y is not the first store to eliminate single-use plastic bags in stores, however. Pride stores also switched to eliminating plastic bags in May, and instead are offering customers paper bags at checkout.

ALDI has never offered customers single-use bags, paper or plastic, for free. Instead, customers purchase a single-use bag for a small fee, use a reusable bag, or pack their groceries in recycled boxes from the store. Price Rite stores also follow a similar model, charging customers a small fee for single-use bags. Stores like Costco and BJ’s, however, don’t offer customers any bag options at checkout.

In recent years, towns across the country and municipalities in Massachusetts have shifted away from offering single-use bags and passed plastic bag bans. Not only has a statewide plastic bag ban been proposed, locally Longmeadow, Amherst, Greenfield, Northampton, South Hadley, Great Barrington, Adams, and Lee have all put plastic bag bans in place. The Springfield City Council also voted to approve a plastic bag ban this year, but it has yet to be put into place.

Almost all stores, however, still offer plastic bags for customers to package their meat and produce in. ALDI recently announced a plan in April though, according to a news release on prnewsire.com, that will ensure that 100 percent of ALDI packaging will have recyclable or compostable packaging by 2025. Additionally, packaging material for all ALDI-exclusive products will also be reduced by at least 15 percent by 2025.

In June, Connecticut’s General Assembly passed a new tax where retailers are now required to charge 10 cents for each single-use plastic bag. According to the Hartford Courant, the tax took effect on Aug. 1 and the single-use bags will be completely banned in the state beginning on July 1, 2021.

In response to Connecticut’s new tax, Stop and Shop announced they are eliminating plastic bags altogether. During August the store will provide free paper bags to customers, however, beginning Sept. 3 a 10-cent charge will be imposed on paper bags.

Rudy DiPietro, Stop and Shop senior vice president of Operations, said in a statement to NBC Connecticut, “We know that the environmental impact of plastics is something our customers and communities care about here in Connecticut, so we’re eliminating single-use plastic bags well ahead of the state mandated timeline – and we’re also placing a 10-cent fee on paper bags to encourage our customers to make the switch to reusable.”

At press time, Stop and Shop had not announced any plans to eliminate plastic bags in Massachusetts stores.

On a national level, both Hawaii and California currently have statewide bans of single-use bags in place. According to an article on Forbes.com at least 349 cities and towns across the country have imposed bans or taxes on single-use plastic bags in one way or another.

National retailer, Wal-Mart is even working to reduce plastic waste. In a statement to Reminder Publishing Wal-Mart said, “As a retailer that has set an ambitious aspirational goal to create zero waste, Walmart recognizes that plastic waste is a growing concern for our customers, associates and the communities we serve. In various global markets, Walmart is already phasing out single use carrier bags, offering reusable bags and working to reduce plastic bag usage through customer and associate engagements. We are taking additional actions across our business and working with suppliers to use less plastic, recycle more and support innovations to improve plastic waste reduction systems. Walmart will continue to comply with the laws in the markets where we operate and remains active in our collaborative efforts of working with retailers, suppliers, customers, policymakers and other stakeholders to reduce plastic waste.”

Hartman said, like with anything, he believes there will be a learning curve for Big Y customers, but eventually it will become a habit to bring reusable bags to the store with them. “There is a training, there is a remembering. Once you do it for a month and a half it becomes second nature,” he said.

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