Walmart customers soon will need to bring their own bags or clutch items in their hands and arms to carry out their haul.
In about a month, Walmart stores across Oregon no longer will provide plastic bags at checkout or pickup, encouraging customers to use reusable bags or containers.
“Eliminating single-use bags aligns our stores with the Oregon values of a sustainable community,” said Jane Ewing, senior vice president of Walmart Sustainability, in a press release. “We are committed to making the sustainable choice accessible and convenient for Oregonians, so that together we can reduce waste every day.”
In 2020, Oregon state law banned single-use plastic bags, but the pandemic interrupted that process. Single-use bags at Walmart currently cost customers 5-10 cents each. Those will go away beginning Tuesday, April 18, and customers will either leave with unbagged groceries and other items, buy reusable bags in the store or send someone to their cars for the reusable bags collecting dust in the backseat.
Oregon isn’t the first state where Walmart has gone bagless. As of January, it has eliminated paper and plastic bags in Canada and Mexico as well as Vermont, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Colorado and Connecticut.
By going bagless in six states, the company says it avoids the use of more than 1.2 billion plastic and paper bags every year.
Stores started rolling out new, branded reusable bags for purchase in October 2022. The company said it has improved the placement of reusable bags in stores, and checkout lines have been adjusted to accommodate more reusable bags.
Delivery will continue to utilize paper bags and stores will continue providing single-use bags in areas that prevent food contamination
