Sprouts Farmers Market Aims to Eliminate Single-Use Plastic Bags by End of 2023; Nick Konat Details
PHOENIX, AZ - Taking a stand against single-use plastics, Sprouts Farmers Market recently announced it will eliminate single-use plastic bags at checkout by the end of 2023. With this decision, Sprouts will remove over 200 million single-use plastic bags from circulation each year.
“Our customers tell us how much they appreciate Sprouts’ care for the planet and our commitment to doing what’s right for our collective future,” said Nick Konat, President and Chief Operating Officer. “The decision to shift to reusable bags is one of many ways Sprouts will have an even bigger impact on the environment. We understand this will be an adjustment for our customers, and we will be here to help them with the transition.”
Already, Sprouts has eliminated single-use plastic bags at 132 of its California stores and will roll out this initiative in phases next month, beginning with Nevada, Utah, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia stores. To help with this transition, Sprouts will offer customers stronger, reusable plastic bags made from 40 percent post-consumer recycled material designed to be reused at least 125 times and will continue to offer customers numerous other reusable bag options for purchase. Sprouts will encourage customers to bring their own reusable bags by charging 10 cents per reusable plastic bag.
As noted in the release, the company has also stopped offering paper bags at checkout as paper bags are generally not reusable; often are not recycled (with 80 percent ending up in landfill); and have a high environmental cost in terms of water, energy, and raw materials used in their manufacture.
“We like to remind customers that any bag takes energy and resources to produce, which means the most sustainable choice is the bag you already have. Making the effort to reuse any bag that comes into your possession, and disposing of the bag responsibly, is key,” said Konat.
Customers can continue to bring single-use plastic bags to Sprouts stores for recycling after use. In 2022, customers recycled nearly 1 million pounds of soft plastics at Sprouts stores.
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