US retail giants Target Corp and Walmart are among the founders of a new consortium which aims to reinvent the single-use plastic retail bag.
The three-year initiative is led by New York-based investment firm Closed Loop Partners’ Center for the Circular Economy, an innovation centre for collaboration and research to advance circularity.
“Current alternatives to the plastic retail bag have yet to garner industry-wide support or widespread use by the public and many still have significant environmental impacts,” Closed Loop Partners says.
To accelerate innovation, the firm is forming the Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag with founding partners CVS Health, Target and Walmart and joined by Kroger, Walgreens, and environmental organisations Conservation International and Ocean Conservancy. Collectively, consortium partners have committed more than US$15m to launch the Beyond the Bag Initiative.
The programme will identify, pilot and implement viable design solutions and models that more sustainably serve the purpose of the current shopping bag.
“Today, global risks from climate change, the global pandemic and mounting plastic waste have revealed the vulnerabilities of our current system. The Beyond the Bag Initiative convenes some of the largest and most influential retailers in the United States to think outside the box and drive long-term, transformational thinking to address a complex global waste challenge,” says Closed Loop Partners, which welcomes additional retailers.
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By GlobalDataKate Daly, managing director of the Center for the Circular Economy, adds: “The status quo has been shaken, presenting a unique opportunity to build back better and reimagine a more resilient and sustainable way of doing business.”
Innovative design solutions will be solicited from around the world through the consortium’s global Innovation Challenge, with an initial focus on implementation in the United States.
Launched in partnership with global design firm IDEO, the challenge invites participants to submit ideas for sustainable bag solutions. In addition, Closed Loop Partners will launch a Circular Accelerator, develop potential piloting opportunities and aim to make infrastructure investments in support of the development of market-ready solutions.
“By coming together to tackle the problem, we aim to accelerate the pace of innovation and the commercialisation of sustainable solutions,” says Kathleen McLaughlin, executive vice president and chief sustainability officer for Walmart. “Through efforts like the Innovation Challenge and the Circular Accelerator, we hope the Beyond the Bag Initiative will surface affordable, practical solutions that meet the needs of customers and reduce plastic waste.”
