In March 2021, Dutch supermarket chain Albert Heijn made an ambitious promise to remove single-use plastic bags for fruits and vegetables from their stores by the end of the year.
At the end of April 2021, single-use plastic bags were removed from the first AH stores. But it is only now, one year later, that the supermarket chain is getting rid of single-use plastic bags in all of its stores.
As of next Monday, there will be no more free plastic bags for fruits and veggies, reports NU.nl. Customers will be able to read this information on the shelves and near the weighing scales.
Why the delay?
Albert Heijn wanted to offer its customers reusable, washable nylon bags as a replacement for single-use plastic ones.
However, these took longer to arrive than expected and their quality wasn’t up to the highest standard.
“Sometimes, customers couldn’t get the cardboard label off easily, causing the bag to break,” tells the Albert Heijn spokesperson NU.nl.
Fighting plastic pollution
Saying goodbye to single-use plastic bags should save about 7,000 kilograms of plastic per day. This equals about 350,000 plastic bags every day. 🤯
Other supermarkets have already been playing their part for some time now. LIDL stopped offering free plastic bags years ago and ALDI followed suit in 2021.
Jumbo customers can still choose free plastic bags, but they can also opt for free paper bags or a nylon bag that has to be purchased. Similarly, PLUS offers plastic or paper bags.
Are you happy to see single-use plastic bags gone from Albert Heijn? Tell us in the comments!