Some retailers look for better ways to deal with state’s bag ban (updated)

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Attention shoppers — check this out.

After a program testing the use of a returnable bag system in South Jersey ends this fall, the results will be used to help explore how to bring the circular solution to a national level.

Since April, shoppers at CVS Health and Target locations in Cherry Hill, Marlton and Mount Laurel have had the ability to purchase a bag at checkout for $1 and then return it to any of the 10 participating stores to get their deposit back. After that, the bag is washed, redistributed and reused by other customers.

As one of three states involved with initiatives run by the Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag, New Jersey has been “a great place” to try out the solution, according to Kate Daly, managing director and head of impact investment firm Closed Loop Partners’ Center for the Circular Economy, which is the entity managing the overall effort.

While New Jersey’s strict ban on single-use plastic bags and paper bags at supermarkets and big box retailers has resulted in a significant reduction in litter since the law went into effect in May 2022, it has had an unintended consequence.

Many New Jerseyans now find themselves with a surplus of reusable bags, either from forgetting to bring them along during shopping trips or from receiving their orders via curbside pick-up or delivery.

Although a bill was introduced last fall that aims to solve the problem by giving grocery delivery services and their customers more packaging options for delivery, pickup and curbside orders, the measure has yet to advance.

In New Jersey, Daly said the pilot is trying to gauge whether “people can start to see bags as something that they don’t have to own and that they can get away from having to have a closet with a tote bag full of tote bags.”

Instead, those reusable shopping bags “can be something they use at their convenience, then get their money back and not have to wash it or own it,” she said

When it came time to select where the pilot would take place in New Jersey, Daly said, “We were looking for very diverse communities in townships that are demographically, socioeconomically different densities. We also wanted a community that was sort of distinct that had a sufficient concentration of participating stores so that somebody who gets a bag at CVS and then needs to return it can return it to Target in multiple locations or return it to CVS in multiple locations.”

“New Jersey brought the kind of policy environment, but then also the economic and social environment and the density of populations in stores,” she added.

‘Beyond the bag’

The program is part of the consortium’s larger Beyond the Bag initiative, which is aimed at finding and testing reuse solutions that are eco-friendly, as well as convenient for customers.

The three-year-old effort – whose founding partners include Target, Walmart and CVS – brings together retailers, innovators and other stakeholders to reimagine the retail bags in physical stores and across emerging channels, like local delivery and buy-online, pickup-in-store.

Since its launch, the group has grown from five retail partners to 15 and deployed more than 6,000 iterative tests, surveys and pilots across markets to help accelerate learning and the development of sustainable bag solutions.

Target’s senior vice president of corporate responsibility Amanda Nusz said the retailer is proud to be a part of the Consortium’s work to create “an equitable, regenerative future together.”

“Through our collective efforts, these pilots will offer valuable insights for enhancing circular capabilities and providing accessible alternatives to the single-use plastic bag for all,” she stated.

Sheryl Burke, senior vice president of corporate social responsibility and chief sustainability officer at CVS Health, said, “As we expand these reusable bag solutions across CVS Pharmacy locations and learn about consumer behaviors, we continue to see the power in collective retail action. With everyone’s drive, dedication and collaboration, we will continue making a lasting impact on creating a healthier world today and for future generations.”

Its previous programs include testing an in-store reusable bag rental system in select CVS and Target stores in Jersey City, Howell, North Plainfield, Marlton, Wall and Watchung shortly after New Jersey’s plastic bag ban went into effect last year. Run by Michigan-based GOATOTE, a winner of the Consortium’s Beyond the Bag challenge, the pilot allowed consumers to check out reusable bags at kiosks and return them for fresh ones during their next visit.

According to Daly, some of the biggest takeaways from prior programs, including last year’s in New Jersey, are the importance of making the process as easy as possible for customers and having support from frontline retail staff.

“That made all the difference in a customer experiencing reuse as a positive and beneficial transaction versus something that might be a hassle or something that’s forgotten,” she said. “We also learned a lot about what is the right price point for a reusable bag that isn’t seen as disposable but is not so expensive that it’s prohibitive for somebody to buy it and consider it their staple bag.”

The pilot underway in New Jersey – which is being provided operational services through Beyond the Bag challenge winner Returnity and 99Bridges – is focused solely on the return aspect. However, a program being tested in Arizona and Colorado revolves around a campaign to encourage and remind shoppers to bring their own reusable bags to stores.

Together, the two initiatives represent the Consortium’s biggest pilot to date, covering more than 150 stores across the three states, and build upon progress made in identifying innovative solutions, conducting consumer research, analyzing policy and infrastructure needs.

Daly said, “We need to consider a range of needs, contexts and policy landscapes to create a less wasteful future for the retail bag. These two pilots are complementary by design, understanding that a diversity of solutions is needed to effect systems change and mitigate unintended consequences. We are bringing retailers together to advance reuse solutions collectively that support customers and reduce single-use plastic bag waste.”

Ultimately, the results will “paint a potential future where complementary reuse approaches work in parallel to reduce single-use plastic bag waste,” focusing on increasing the use of existing reusable bags in the market, as well as creating solutions for when customers forget their own reusable bag, according to Closed Loop.

As the program in the Garden State winds down, Daly said, “We’ve been really excited at the learnings so far in the pilot and the testing of the returnable bag service. We’re looking forward to taking that data and developing insights and analysis that can then drive what is the next step for scaling solutions that reduce the use of single-use plastic bags.”

Some of the impact metrics that will be analyzed include the adoption rate and return rate so that the consortium can determine the environmental and operational impact, she said.

“We’ll also be looking at what worked, what didn’t, what we should replicate for the future and what should we change and update,” Daly said.

A collective effort

Spurring a cultural shift around reuse won’t be an easy process.

“This is a collective effort. There’s no one entity, person or company that could ever do this on their own because all of the stakeholders have to be at the table,” she said. “What’s been so gratifying about the consortium work is that we have 15 Fortune 500 companies. Huge retailers that have come together, agreeing that they don’t need to compete on this aspect of their business and that it’s something they want to collaborate on.”

Other participants include Kroger as grocery sector lead, Dick’s Sporting Goods as sports & outdoors sector lead, Dollar General as value sector lead, TJX as apparel & home goods sector lead and Ulta Beauty as beauty sector lead.

Keasbey-based retail cooperative Wakefern Food Corp. is a supporting partner, joining companies such as Ahold Delhaize USA, Albertsons Cos., H-E-B, Hy-Vee, Meijer and Walgreens.

Daly said, “As we identify our strategic direction, we really value input from [our supporting partners]: things like their insights into operations, into customers and into the economics.

“All of our partners have a tremendous contribution in terms of thought partnership and sharing with us data that we can the aggregate and anonymize so that we can assess what trends in retails that have an impact on the types of innovations and solutions that we want to introduce into stores,” she said, adding, “Wakefern has been a great partner in that respect.”

In New Jersey, the Department of Environmental Protection and its partner agencies have been continuing to focus on educating the public about the value and importance of reducing use of and reliance on plastic products, along with overall waste reduction.

The new law also helped develop stronger relationships between the New Jersey Clean Communities Council, NJDEP, the New Jersey Food Council and New Jersey Business Action Center through a public-private partnership focused on outreach.

The campaign, which is known as Litter Free NJ, continues to be a one-stop resource for information about the law and how to comply.

The next phase of Litter Free NJ is an informal partnership between the NJCCC and NJFC, which have created a plan to redistribute reusable bags to residents in need. According to the NJCCC, the effort involves numerous local and county solid waste agencies, nonprofits, food banks, civic groups, the NJDEP, business entities and other interests that will offer drop-off and collection sites for reusable bags to be sanitized and recirculated.

The Community FoodBank of New Jersey also launched a look-up tool – with help from Wegmans, Stop & Shop, and Wakefern – to allow residents to find a pantry accepting reusable bag donations locally.

Daly said, “I think that we live in a society that’s very much about you buy something, then you own it – with some exceptions, though: rental cars and library books. But when it comes to this type of packaging, it’s not something that is reflexive yet. I think that cultural shift is where there’s still a lot of work to be done.”

“I think that smart policy can go hand-in-hand with economic incentives and social incentives,” she said. “That’s what we’re always looking out for. How to make sure that policy promotes shifts that can align with the good behavior and, convenience for customers and have a cultural shift that’s net positive for the environment.”

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 2:13 p.m. ET Aug. 8, 2023, to clarify Kate Daly’s quote about Closed Loop’s supporting partners.