METRO says goodbye to single-use plastic bags

METRO eliminates single-use plastic shopping bags in all its food stores and pharmacies (CNW Group/METRO INC.)

MONTREAL — All METRO’s food and pharmacy locations will stop offering single-use plastic shopping bags at the start of September this year.

The grocery store chain explained that this decision comes as part of the company’s efforts to be more environmentally responsible as a corporation and reduce its contribution to plastic waste.

“Our ambition is to optimize our packaging and printed materials by reducing their use, relying on optimal design, choosing environmentally responsible materials and facilitating their recovery and recycling; these are the principles on which is based our Packaging and Printed Materials Management Policy, which METRO published in 2019,” said Marie-Claude Bacon, vice president, public affairs and communications in a statement.

Currently, METRO operates over a network of approximately 950 food stores and 650 drugstores. The company estimates that eliminating single-use plastics will effectively prevent the circulation of over 330 million of them each year.

The company says it has been working on various packaging initiatives since the early 2010s and plans to move forward with other efforts to achieve its goals in corporate responsibility.