Covid-19 has aggravated the problem of disposable plastics, but it can feed solutions

In early 2020, Giant Eagle began a company-wide mission to phase out all disposable plastic bags. The Pittsburgh-based supermarket chain has stopped offering thin, disposable bags in the checkout area at about 40 stores. He put up signs in parking lots reminding customers to bring reusable bags and offered discounts to those who did.

Efforts have reduced 20 million disposable plastic bags, said the company, which can throw garbage in parks, get stuck in trees or end up in landfills.

But in mid-March, the coronavirus pandemic hit. Customers stacked food, soap and toilet paper on trolleys. Giant Eagle installed acrylic screens near the checkout counters, labeled one-way aisles to encourage social distance and returned plastic bags to all stores, asking customers to keep the reusable ones at home.

“We fully recognize that we have taken a step back – as have other retailers,” said Dan Donovan, senior director of corporate communications for the company and a member of the team that promotes the grocery store’s environmental efforts. He said that security became a priority, as employees and customers worried about Covid and scientists sought to better understand how the virus spread.

Similar patterns have occurred across the country. The pandemic has not only disrupted the daily pace of work, school and life. This complicated retailers’ efforts to reduce the use of non-recyclable plastics, from grocery bags to plastic forks. It also inspired behavioral changes that increased packaging consumption as more people shopped online, bought disposable protective gear like masks and gloves, and turned to packaged or packaged products and other grocery items in the store.

A year later, disposable plastics remain an ubiquitous part of retail – even with big companies like Walmart, Target, Kroger and CVS Health committing to make the transition to more sustainable alternatives.

“For many of us, the pandemic has changed our relationship with single-use plastic in uncomfortable ways,” said John Hocevar, director of the ocean campaign for Greenpeace USA, a nonprofit environmental organization. “The new types of useless plastic packaging accumulating in our homes and filling our garbage cans are leading many people – including legislators and corporate executives – to think more about reuse.”

Plastic is one of the main drivers of climate change worldwide. Although companies that produce and sell plastic claim recycling as a solution, less than 10% of American plastic waste is recycled. The survey also shows that the United States generates more plastic waste than any other country in the world.

Tough plastic bag bans were lifted or lifted at the start of the health crisis. Maine and Oregon postponed bans across the state. California Governor Gavin Newsom has lifted a ban in his state that has been in effect since 2016. And in New York, Covid-19 cases increased shortly after the state ban on disposable plastic bags came into effect on the 1st. March – delaying the application of about seven months and decreasing efforts to change ingrained habits.

Covid-19 also galvanized efforts by plastic lobby groups to challenge and overturn bans.

Consulting firm Wood Mackenzie estimated that US demand for flexible packaging, most of which was disposable plastic, increased by 4% to 5% compared to the previous year, following the panic buying of Covid’s first locks. The company expects demand to grow 4.5% a year for the next five years.

“These companies should put plans in place now for what a world beyond disposable plastics will look like,” said Hocevar. “The pandemic cannot be an excuse that aggravates another public health crisis.”

Last year, public health officials debunked fears that Covid-19 is spreading over contaminated surfaces. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the virus is spread mainly from person to person. More than 125 health experts have published guidance on how reusable can be used safely during the pandemic.

New York began to impose a ban on plastic bags in the fall. Some retailers, like Giant Eagle, say they want to resume sustainability efforts. Others, including Amazon-owned Whole Foods and the Texas HEB grocery store, are bringing back food stalls where customers serve themselves instead of choosing from pre-packaged plastic containers.

Donovan said that Giant Eagle wants to “go back to the script we had designed to do more than a year ago.” In early summer, if not sooner, the grocer will remove disposable plastic bags from some stores again and plans to expand them to all 470 locations over time in order to fulfill his commitment to eliminate them altogether. until 2025.

But first, Donovan said that Giant Eagle must win over customers – a potentially more difficult sale after a year that may have taken root in germ awareness. When the company surveyed customers in the fall, 60% said they did not feel safe about bringing reusable bags or seeing other customers bring them.

“There is the science of what we are learning and there are people’s feelings, emotions and fears, regardless of the science in some cases,” said Donovan, adding that the company would potentially encourage customers with discounts on groceries or fuel at their gas stations.

When reopening cafes and hot bars, you are also considering how to dispose of other plastics, such as straws or utensils. And it is working with manufacturers on more sustainable packaging for private label products.

It also wants to make a part of its fast-growing businesses more environmentally friendly. Online orders quadrupled during the peak of the pandemic and stabilized, but at double the pre-pandemic rate, he said. The company plans to offer customers the option of obtaining all paper bags – instead of plastic – when they pick up groceries at a curb collection or request that they be delivered.

About a dozen retailers, including Dick’s Sporting Goods, Dollar General and Kroger, signed an initiative called Beyond the Bag, managed by the innovation arm of an investment firm, Closed Loop Partners. Walmart, Target and CVS Health are founding members and contributed $ 5 million each.

Kate Daly, managing director of the Closed Loop’s Center for the Circular Economy, noted that many of these retailers signed checks and joined the consortium during the global crisis.

“It was a clear indication that none of our corporate partners is taking a break from sustainability,” she said.

However, environmental groups have argued that corporate initiatives to reduce and recycle plastic waste have been insufficient, especially as plastic manufacturers increase production. Environmental advocates are pushing for legislative measures, including the approval of the Plastic Pollution Release Act.

“Big brands have been making promises about recycled content for decades, but the pollution crisis is getting worse by the day,” said Hocevar. “It’s time to end green washing and take real steps to end our dependence on disposable polluting plastics.”

Daly acknowledged that the pandemic had its setbacks, but said it also opened people’s eyes to the need for sustainability. As people spend more time at home, they see their garbage pile up with individual packages of food or discarded bubble wrap from online deliveries, she said. Companies saw the vulnerability of global supply chains and heard calls for action from shareholders, politicians and consumer activists.

“We need to lighten the weight of customers and not expect them to be innovators and entrepreneurs, but to offer them a variety of options that are economical, inclusive and accessible and also the most sustainable,” she said. “This is what customers are expecting and increasingly demanding.”

Last month, Beyond the Bag announced nine winners of a challenge to find alternatives to disposable bags – from compostable bags made from seaweed to a kiosk that allows customers to pick up and return reusable bags.

Daly said consumers could see retailers testing some of these approaches in stores later this year.

Even outside supermarkets, entrepreneurs see the desire for sustainability as a business opportunity that can generate profits, along with goodwill and a healthier planet.

Nate Faust sold his previous company, Jet.com, to Walmart for $ 3.3 billion. He co-founded the start-up with Marc Lore, who recently left the big retailer after leading his e-commerce strategy. Now, Faust has started a company with the goal of reducing packaging.

Faust said the idea came out of his own frustration, after seeing the amount of boxes discarded in his New Jersey neighborhood.

His new start-up, Olive, consolidates purchases of clothing from various brands and leaves them at customers’ doors in a reusable bag. It also aims to reduce fuel consumption and pollution by delivering orders once a week, instead of several times a day or week. Customers can return items in the same bag.

“More and more consumers are concerned about the environment,” he said. “This is not about making a switch. This is how they live their lives. As younger generations become a larger share of consumer spending, this will become the feature in itself.”