Loblaw Companies Limited plans to eliminate all single-use plastic shopping bags from its corporate and franchise grocery stores, pharmacies, and PC Express service across Canada. The plastic shopping bag elimination will be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2023.
"As a purpose-led organization, committed to helping Canadians live life well, we are proud to be taking a significant step on such an important environmental issue," said Robert Sawyer, chief operating officer at Loblaw Companies Limited. "Since 2007, our efforts to reduce the number of single-use plastic shopping bags leaving our stores has led to 13.8 billion fewer bags potentially going into landfill."
The adoption of a plastic bag fee led to a 70 percent decline in the use of plastic bags in its stores, and shoppers have turned to reusable bags and plastic bins as alternatives. As single-use plastic shopping bags are phased out, province by province, alternative options will be made available.
This change is the latest related to Loblaw's environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts. Notably, to help fight climate change, Loblaw will achieve the following: net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 for Scope 1 and 2, and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 for Scope 3; reduce plastic waste by making all of its control brand and in-store packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025; send zero food waste to landfill by 2030; and more. The full scope of the company's ESG commitments can be found in its 2021 ESG Report.
