Whole Foods Chain to Eliminate Plastic Bags

The Whole Foods Market chain, a popular American organic and natural grocery store, said Tuesday that it would move to stop offering plastic grocery bags. Instead, customers will have a choice between recycled paper bags or reusable bags.
Whole Foods’ decision follows in the wake of a trend spreading across governments and retailers. San Francisco banned plastic bags last year because of concerns about their environmental impact. China also banned plastic bags a few weeks ago. And New York City is requiring retailers to offer plastic bag recycling.
Whole Foods officials said they had wanted to eliminate plastic bags for some time but needed to figure out how to make it feasible for the chain’s 270 stores.
A. C. Gallo, the company’s co-president and chief operating officer, commented that Whole Foods tried to get customers to buy reusable bags for several years but “it really never caught on.” Customers were more receptive when the grocery chain began offering reusable bags for 99 cents, he said.
He added that Whole Foods gave the issue a test drive last year when San Francisco banned plastic bags last year. The number of paper bags used in the San Francisco stores increased by only 10 percent, he said, suggesting that some customers switched to reusable bags.

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