Aldi eliminates plastic shopping bags in US stores

"This will save over 4,400 tons (nearly nine million pounds) of plastic from circulation each year. That’s equivalent to 20 Lady Liberty statues!"

by Katlyn Brieskorn and Addy Bink | Jan. 17, 2024

Story at a glance

Aldi announced that the company has become the first major U.S. retailer to eliminate plastic shopping bags.

Shoppers will need to bring their reusable bags or purchase a reusable bag at the checkout.

The supermarket chain said its goal was to remove all plastic shopping bags from its stores by the end of 2023.

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Aldi shoppers will no longer be able to purchase plastic shopping bags at more than 2,300 stores across the United States.

The German-based supermarket chain announced last week that the company has become the first major U.S. retailer to eliminate plastic shopping bags.

“This will save over 4,400 tons (nearly nine million pounds) of plastic from circulation each year. That’s equivalent to 20 Lady Liberty statues!” Aldi’s CEO Jason Hart said in a news release.

Shoppers will need to bring their reusable bags or purchase a reusable bag at the checkout. The supermarket chain said its goal was to remove all plastic shopping bags from its stores by the end of 2023.

Aldi also announced that it will switch to environmentally friendly refrigerants before the end of 2035.

“As one of America’s fastest-growing retailers, we take our responsibility to lead the industry in
sustainability seriously, so our customers don’t have to choose between shopping responsibly and saving money,” Hart said. “Eliminating plastic shopping bags from our stores and transitioning to environmentally friendly refrigerant systems not only help us protect the environment, but they also help reduce costs which we then pass on to our customers. These
decisions help our customers feel good about shopping at ALDI and our employees feel proud to work here.”

There are a number of states that have already moved to get rid of plastic bags. The latest of which is Colorado — stores and some food establishments are no longer allowed to purchase new single-use plastic bags since the start of the new year. While they can still provide bags to customers for a fee for now — there’s been a 10-cent fee for each bag since the start of 2023 — come June 1, stores won’t be able to sell any single-use plastic bags to customers at all.

Other states where plastic bags have largely been banned are California, Hawaii, New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Oregon, New Jersey, and Vermont.

There are additional retailers that have launched efforts to ditch plastic bags. That includes Kroger, which announced in 2018 that it intended to phase out single-use plastic bags by 2025.

Walmart, which already ditched plastic bags in multiple states, announced earlier this year that it would “double down on reducing waste” by transitioning away from single-use plastic bags for pickup and delivery orders. Instead, the retailer would offer paper bag mailers — but it’s the customers that get to decide which is used.