Walmart stores in Mississauga, across Canada eliminate plastic shopping bags
Published April 22, 2022 at 10:20 am
Starting today (April 22), Walmart shoppers in Mississauga and across the country will have to carry their purchases home in reusable bags or in their arms as the huge chain of stores has eliminated plastic bags altogether.
Mississauga-based Walmart Canada announced last December that it will get rid of all single-use plastic shopping bags at its more than 400 Canadian stores by Earth Day 2022, which falls today.
Paper flyers reminding customers of the move to reusable bags only could be found in Walmart stores last weekend.
Walmart officials say the phased-in changes, which apply to in-store purchases in addition to online grocery pickup and delivery orders, will prevent nearly 750 million plastic bags from entering circulation each year.
They note that Walmart will become one of the largest grocery retailers in Canada to make such a change, described as the latest step in the company’s efforts to become a “regenerative company.”
Sobeys stopped using plastic shopping bags at its 255 locations across Canada in 2019.
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The national initiative follows a successful 10-store pilot program that was launched last August. Walmart says the pilot diverted nearly six million plastic bags and was well received by associates and customers alike.
A comprehensive customer awareness and education campaign staged the past few months was expected to help in the transition to plastic bag-free shopping at Walmart.
Moving forward, customers will be encouraged to bring reusable bags/options from home and low-cost, high-quality reusable bags will also be available for purchase, store officials say.
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