‘Bring Your Own Bag’ pilots under way at over 150 stores in Denver, Tucson

Chain store retailers including The Kroger Co., CVS Health, Target and Dollar General are holding “Bring Your Own Bag” reusable shopping bag pilots in the Denver and Tucson metropolitan areas through the Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag.

Covering more than 150 stores, the tests—launched this week—focus on making reusable bags “the norm wherever customers shop” to assess how collective action by retailers can effect change in consumer behavior, according to New York-based green investment firm Closed Loop Partners, managing parter of the Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag. Under the consortium’s three-year Beyond the Bag Initiative, retailers will pilot convenient alternatives to single-use plastic shopping bags that help reduce global plastic waste.

Specifically, the “Bring Your Own” pilots will run until July 30 and use solutions from the consortium’s “Playbook,” which include signage, marketing and customer prompts about reusable bags. Based on test results, the consortium will explore scaling these low-cost, easy-to-implement strategies to spur a national cultural shift around reuse, Closed Loop Partners said. The consortium’s work over the past three years included the evaluation of hundreds of innovations and testing of multiple solutions, along with surveys of thousands of customers and retail personnel.

Cincinnati-based Kroger is piloting the consortium’s solutions through its King Soopers and Fry’s supermarkets in the Denver and Tucson markets. Kroger serves as the grocery sector lead partner for the consortium.

“We all need to work together to create healthier, thriving communities across the country. This pilot is another opportunity to engage our customers directly as we work to reduce waste,” Denise Osterhues, senior director of sustainability and social impact at The Kroger Co., said in a statement.

Other retail chains participating in “Bring Your Own Bag” pilots in the Denver and Tucson areas include Target; Dollar General; CVS; Dick’s Sporting Goods; TJX’s T.J. Marshalls and HomeGoods stores; and Ulta Beauty. Mom-and-pop shops also are testing the consortium’s shopping bag solutions.

“We are hopeful these small local steps can lead to greater progress,” stated Denine Torr, vice president of corporate social responsibility and philanthropy at Dollar General. “If we are successful, this multi-city pilot program will provide a model that retailers can scale in other geographies, realizing near-term environmental impact and cost-savings.”

Reusable shopping bag solutions carry big potential in effecting significant reductions in the retail plastic waste stream. / Image: Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag

Changing consumer habits

An estimated that 100 billion plastic bags are used annually in the United States, and fewer than 10% are recycled, Closed Loop Partners reported. The company noted that just a 1% bag reduction translates into 1 billion fewer bags used and discarded into the plastic waste stream.

“When it comes to finding alternatives to single-use plastic bags, our team is committed to co-creating accessible solutions that bring everyone to the table,” commented Amanda Nusz, senior vice president of corporate responsibility at Target. “We’re thrilled to participate in this pilot alongside our consortium partners to explore new ways of encouraging broader reusable bag use by our guests and communities.”

Though widely accepted by consumers, reusable shopping bags haven’t generated a consistency of use, research from the Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag shows. The current pilots are designed to prompt customers to remember to bring reusable bags to the store more frequently as well as use them beyond just the grocery store.

“The most sustainable bag is often the one we already own. Retailers coming together to support customers in bringing their own reusable bag whenever and wherever they shop is a key step to reducing single-use plastic waste,” according to Kate Daly, head of the Center for the Circular Economy at Closed Loop Partners. “This pilot brings to life the Beyond the Bag Consortium’s collaborative, holistic approach to addressing an urgent plastic waste challenge, and we look forward to seeing the impact of this effort at scale."

CVS, Target and Walmart are founding partners of the Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag. Besides Kroger and Dollar General, other food, drug and mass retail partners include Ahold Delhaize USA, Albertsons Cos., H-E-B, Hy-Vee, Meijer, Wakefern Food Corp. and Walgreens.
 
“As we expand these reusable bag solutions across CVS Pharmacy locations and learn about consumer behaviors, we continue to see the power in collective retail action,” stated Sheryl Burke, senior vice president of corporate social responsibility and chief sustainability officer at CVS Health.