Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. wants to do its part to protect the environment. In a push to be greener, the retail giant will extend its plastic bag fee to more stores in a handful of Canadian provinces. Wal-Mart will place a five-cent plastic bag fee on all single-use plastic bags.
Jurisdictions all over Canada have been debating plastic bag fees programs. In the city of Toronto, a five-cent bag tax (plus a one-cent tax) was applied to all businesses and consumers. This was eventually reversed, but many stores voluntarily continued the practice to reduce plastic film from municipal land-fills.
One of these firms looking to reduce its effects on the planet is Wal-Mart. Earlier this year, Wal-Mart introduced a five-cent plastic bag fee on all single-use plastic bags. It started in British Columbia on Feb. 9. As of this month, that fee will expand to Wal-Mart stores in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. After that, Wal-Mart will extend the program to Atlantic Canada.
Simply put: each time a customer asks for a plastic bag, they will be charged a nickel (in Ontario, it would be six cents). Moving forward, it’ll also encourage shoppers to purchase a reusable bag for 25 cents. “Walmart has improved its five-cent single-use bag to be 25 percent bigger and 25 percent thicker, reducing the need to double bag heavier items and lowering the total number of bags used,” the retailer said. A portion of the sales will be allocated to plastic film recycling programs.
Read the full story at http://learnbonds.com/128460/wal-mart-expands-plastic-bag-fee/.