Aldi eliminates plastic shopping bags in all 2,300 U.S. grocery stores

Customers at Aldi, the discount grocery retailer, will no longer be able to purchase plastic shopping bags from the popular chain.

Aldi announced this month that stores have ended the plastic-bag option at checkout, after the retailer spent months gradually eliminating the bags from stores.

Aldi CEO Jason Hart said the company became the first major retailer in the U.S. to eliminate bags at all of its stores - which number 2,300 nationwide.

"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," The CEO of Aldi, Jason Hart, made the statement as mentioned in the press release. "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."

Aldi also aims to use natural refrigerants in all US stores by 2035 to support a healthier planet and keep products fresh. Over 600 stores already use eco-friendly refrigerants, saving almost 60 percent of potential carbon emissions annually.

Why is Aldi getting rid of plastic shopping bags?

The decision to eliminate plastic shopping bags will prevent almost 4,400 tons, or nearly 9 million pounds of plastic, from entering circulation annually, according to Aldi.

Aldi has cloth bags available in stores for purchase and the retailer will continue to sell bags to customers who forget their own reusable bags.

What other stores got rid of plastic shopping bags?

Walmart has stopped providing single-use plastic bags in New York, Connecticut, and some parts of Colorado. The company now offers reusable shopping bags for customers who do not have their own bags.

Stop & Shop planned to eliminate single-use plastic bags at Northeast stores and is already charging customers for paper bags, CBS NEWS said.

Wegmans eliminated plastic bags and shifted customers to reusable bags in 2022.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Aldi removing plastic bags, will only sell paper bags