Metro latest grocer phasing out single-use plastic bags
Posted Jun 4, 2022 12:54:00 AM.
Metro will join the growing list of stores that are ditching single-use plastic shopping bags, the company announced this week.
The company’s food and pharmacy stores will both stop offering such bags starting in September, Metro said in its announcement on Friday, June 3.
The action, Metro says, will prevent the circulation of more than 330 million plastic bags annually.
“Our ambition is to optimize our packaging and printed materials by reducing their use, relying on optimal design, choosing environmentally responsible materials and facilitating their recovery and recycling; these are the principles on which is based our Packaging and Printed Materials Management Policy, which METRO published in 201,” Marie-Claude Bacon, vice president of public affairs and communications, said in a statement. “With a network of some 950 food stores and 650 drugstores, the elimination of single-use plastic shopping bags will prevent the circulation of more than 330 million of these bags annually.”
Metro says the decision supports its objective of the 2022-2026 corporate responsibility plan to reduce over packaging and single-use plastic.
Metro has 950 food and pharmacy stores spread across Ontario and Quebec under several banners including Metro, Metro Plus, Super C and Food Basics, as well as some 650 drugstores primarily under the Jean Coutu, Brunet, Metro Pharmacy and Food Basics Pharmacy banners.