Walmart announces a surprise store update that will change the way customers shop – and includes a fee

WALMART has unveiled a surprise store update that will transform the way customers shop, and the new change will happen in just a few weeks.

Effective January 1, 2023, the company’s Colorado superstores will no longer offer single-use plastic bags.

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“Effective Sunday, January 1, 2023, Walmart stores in Colorado will no longer offer single-use plastic or paper bags at checkout or pickup,” Lauren Willis, communications director for Walmart Western US, said in a statement to The Daily Sentinel.

The statement continued: “Delivery will be switched to paper bags.

“We are working hard to ensure our customers and employees have a seamless and convenient transition to reusable bags.

“Eliminating single-use bags is part of our commitment to becoming zero-waste in all our operations and ultimately moving towards a circular economy based on encouraging reuse, refill and recycling habits incrementally.”

Walmart has already switched from plastic bags to reusable bags in three other states.

The company said earlier this year, “In the US, we’ve transitioned from plastic bags in Vermont, Maine and New Jersey, and by early 2023 we expect to phase out single-use carrier bags in Colorado as well.”

The retailer will offer reusable bags for sale in its stores, labeled at different prices.

The Daily Sentinel explains that the new bag swap aligns with Walmart’s pledge to achieve zero waste in the US and Canada by 2025.

The change is part of Walmart’s “Beyond the Bag” program.

Back in 2020, Walmart told shoppers in a press release, “As Walmart set an ambitious zero-waste goal, we joined the Beyond the Bag initiative as a founding partner to accelerate innovation for much-needed solutions.”

“With funding from Walmart, Target and CVS Health, this three-year initiative is led by closed-loop partners with the goal of identifying, testing and implementing viable design solutions and models that more sustainably serve the purpose of the current retail bag.

“Together, the founding partners have committed $15 million to launch the Beyond the Bag initiative.”

As for Colorado, the bag change is consistent with the Plastic Products Management Act signed into law in Colorado in 2021.

This controversial change comes after Colorado passed legislation banning many single-use plastics starting in 2024.

Under the new Colorado law, the state will charge shoppers 10 cents per piece of paper or plastic in most stores starting in 2023.

And from 2024, single-use plastic bags and Styrofoam containers will be banned.

Sixty percent of that 10-cent fee goes to local recycling or federation programs.

And customers participating in state or federal food assistance programs don’t have to pay the fee.