Washington, DC – Giant Eagle, which operates 474 stores across Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, and Maryland, announced today that it intends to be free of single-use plastics in its operations by 2025. As part of this commitment, the company will eliminate all single-use plastic bags by 2025, beginning with a six-month pilot project at several stores in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Giant Eagle plans to make reusable bags available for 99 cents or charge 10 cents for every paper bag that customers use. It will encourage reusable bag use with a loyalty card perk.
Giant Eagle also plans to eliminate single-use plastic straws, serving containers for fresh foods, bottled beverages, and more from its stores in the future. WESA has reported that Giant Eagle plans to eliminate plastics from all of its product lines, “from loaves of bread to packs of hot dogs.”
In response to the news, Greenpeace USA Plastics Campaigner David Pinsky said:
“As other U.S. retailers continue to ignore the plastic pollution crisis, Giant Eagle has shown it understands the urgent need to eliminate single-use plastics from its operations. Giant Eagle has sent a clear message to other retailers that the time for action has come. To truly make a difference for our oceans, waterways, and communities, additional retailers like Target, Walmart, and Albertsons Companies must work alongside consumer goods behemoths like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestlé to eliminate single-use plastics once and for all.
“While additional details are needed, Giant Eagle’s plan to rid its operations of all single-use plastics by 2025 could be game-changing. We hope that the company sticks to this ambitious commitment, and works to speed up the elimination of throwaway plastic bags, which cannot be recycled in curbside programs. Any commitment to eliminate single-use plastics must not rely on false solutions like simply replacing one type of throwaway packaging material with another. Giant Eagle must continue to show leadership by implementing systems of reuse and package-free options in its operations.”
Greenpeace’s Packaging Away the Planet report evaluated retailers, including Giant Eagle, on their efforts to eliminate single-use plastics: https://www.greenpeace.org/
Greenpeace’s report on false solutions is available here: https://www.greenpeace.org/
Greenpeace’s Smart Supermarket report shows what a plastic-free store could look like: https://www.greenpeace.org/
###
Contact: Perry Wheeler, Greenpeace USA Senior Communications Specialist, P: 301-675-8766
