Several grocers in Connecticut said they will eliminate plastic bags to coincide with a new law that requires them to charge customers for their use.
On Thursday, grocery stores will begin charging customers a 10 cent fee for plastic bags. The fee is meant to deter patrons from using plastic bags for environmental reasons. The law was expected to generate an estimated $27 million for the state within the first year.
Under the new law, single-use plastic bags at checkout will be entirely eliminated by July 2021.
But grocers including, Stop & Shop and Big Y World Class Market, aren’t going to wait.
The two Mass.-based grocery chains recently announced they will eliminate plastic bags on Thursday throughout Connecticut. Highland Park Market in Glastonbury will also ditch the use of plastic bags at checkout, according to WFSB.
In a statement Monday, Stop & Shop said it will give free reusable bags, while supplies last, to customers in all 91 Connecticut stores who bring at least one single-use plastic bag to their local store for recycling. It will also sell reusable bags for $2.50, and $1 from each sale will be given to a Connecticut nonprofit of their choice.
The grocer added it will provide free paper bags throughout August. A 10-cent fee for paper bags will begin Sept. 3.
“We know that the environmental impact of plastics is something our customers and communities care about here in Connecticut…” said Rudy DiPietro, Stop & Shop’s senior vice president of operations.
Big Y earlier this month said it will eliminate single-use plastic bags at the checkouts from its more than 80 locations in Massachusetts and Connecticut beginning Thursday. It will begin offering discounts on reusable bags in August to bridge the transition for customers, officials said.
Big Y said it annually distributed about 100 million plastic bags.
