{"id":10015,"date":"2016-05-03T16:47:01","date_gmt":"2016-05-03T20:47:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wasteadvantagemag.com\/?p=10015"},"modified":"2016-05-03T16:47:01","modified_gmt":"2016-05-03T20:47:01","slug":"wal-mart-stores-inc-wmt-expands-plastic-bag-fee-to-more-canadian-stores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wasteadvantagemag.com\/wal-mart-stores-inc-wmt-expands-plastic-bag-fee-to-more-canadian-stores\/","title":{"rendered":"Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) Expands Plastic Bag Fee to More Canadian Stores"},"content":{"rendered":"
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.\u00a0Wal-Mart will place a five-cent plastic bag fee on all single-use plastic bags.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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\u00a0fee will expand to Wal-Mart stores in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. After that, Wal-Mart will extend the program to Atlantic Canada.<\/p>\n
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\u2019ll also encourage shoppers to purchase a reusable bag for 25 cents. \u201cWalmart 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,\u201d the retailer said. A portion of the sales will be allocated to plastic film recycling programs.<\/p>\n