Walmart stores in Connecticut will eliminate single-use plastic bags starting Jan. 18, after increasing the thickness of bags in what environmentalists called an attempt to avoid a 2021 statewide ban.
Walmart stores switched to a thicker 4-mil plastic bag in response to Connecticut’s ban, which went into effect on July 1, 2021. State law only bans plastic bags with a thickness of less than 4 mils; thicker bags are considered reusable.
A “mil” is a unit of thickness equal to one thousandth of an inch.
Walmart has been gradually phasing out plastic bags across the country. It stopped using plastic bags in Colorado on Jan. 1, also in response to a statewide ban.
Nine other states have banned plastic bags: Maine, Vermont, California, Delaware, Hawaii, New York, Oregon and New Jersey.
Walmart says its goal is to achieve zero net emissions by 2040.
Customers can bring their own reusable bags or purchase Walmart-branded reusable bags at stores.
