As of Friday, Walmart’s Canadian stores will no longer offer disposable plastic bags for in-store purchases, online grocery shopping and deliveries.
The change applies to all more than 400 Walmart locations across the country, the company said on Earth Day.
“This is a big moment for our employees and our customers: making this change will help prevent the circulation of more than 680 million disposable plastic bags each year,” said Lindsay Flint, Walmart’s Store and Innovation Process Manager. Canada. in a news release.
Customers are now expected to carry their own reusable bags or purchase them from Walmart Canada.
According to the Walmart website, they will still provide bags for wholesale items such as meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts, candy, flour and cereals; produce bags; and already packaged by industrial processing.
The retail giant has joined a growing list of brands such as Sobeys Inc., Foodland and FreshCo, which switched to reusable paper bags in early 2021, with most of their banner stores across the country eliminating plastic bags altogether. in 2022
Walmart said they launched their nationwide plastic-free initiative on Jan. 1 and went from 10 pilot stores to more than 54 by March.
According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadians dump three million tons of plastic waste each year, and only nine percent of it is recycled.
A study by Deloitte and Cheminfo Services Inc. found that most of the plastics introduced to the Canadian market and disposed of as waste in 2016 were actually packaging materials. This includes plastic bags, bottles and other items commonly used in the food and beverage sector.
Walmart said its move will help prevent more than 680 million single-use plastic bags from entering circulation each year.
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