Posted by Michael Koh | Jul 1, 2022 | Business

Beginning Friday, July 1, Wegmans will be removing single-use plastic grocery bags from its six remaining Virginia stores and all four North Carolina stores, including the Chapel Hill location.

The company previously announced in April its intention to eliminate single-use plastic bags by the end of 2022, with the company sharing earlier this month that it would make the switch in North Carolina too.

“While paper grocery bags will continue to be available for a 5-cent charge per bag,” said a company statement, “Wegmans’ goal is to shift customers to reusable bags, the best option to solve the environmental challenge of single-use grocery bags.”

Wegmans said the money collected from its paper-bag charge will be donated to local food banks for each store.

The announcement drew praise from some advocacy groups, including the North Carolina Public Interest Research Group, or NCPIRG.

“Wegmans and other retailers taking action to limit plastic usage is essential to a safer, healthier future,” Katie Craig, state director of NCPIRG, said in a statement. “Given how much of what we buy is disposable, customers sometimes need a little push to shift their habits. We should focus on the future of our planet rather than the short-term convenience of unnecessary plastic, which only leads to waste. I hope this step will create a path for other groceries and retailers to follow.”

Wegmans has already eliminated single-use plastic bags from several of its stores in Virginia. According to the company’s statement, at those locations, paper bags are used for 20 to 25 percent of transactions, while reusable bags or no bag at all make up the remainder. The company’s stated goal is to reduce its in-store plastic packaging made from fossil fuels by 10 million pounds by 2024.

In addition to its Chapel Hill location off Fordham Boulevard, Wegmans has store locations in Raleigh, West Cary and Wake Forest.

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