Where Kroger’s pledge to get rid of plastic bags by 2025 stands

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Seven years ago, the Ohio-based grocery chain Kroger pledged to get rid of plastic bags in all of its stores by 2025. 

Kroger made the announcement in August 2018, stating it would phase out single-use plastic bags and transition to reusable bags by 2025. The commitment included all of the brands Kroger owns, including grocery chains Dillons, Ralphs and QFC. See NBC4’s previous coverage in the video player above.

In an editorial published in the Cincinnati Enquirer at the time, Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen wrote that the waste generated by the bags at the company’s over 2,700 stores – including its subsidiaries – would drop by 123 million pounds per year. 

The plan was part of Kroger’s “Zero Hunger Zero Waste” initiative, which aims to address a variety of social and environmental issues, such as food insecurity.

The announcement stated the plan would begin with Seattle-based supermarket QFC, which has a total of nearly 60 locations in Washington and Oregon. QFC completely eliminated single-use plastic bags by April 2019. 

While Kroger saw success with QFC, it seems its goal to eliminate plastic bags across all of its stores by 2025 has fallen flat, considering numerous locations still use plastic bags. However, the original announcement did not specify if Kroger’s commitment was intended to be accomplished by Jan 1, 2025, or by the end of the year. 

The company claims it has made progress toward eliminating plastic bags, with Kroger’s 2024 environmental, social and governance report stating “more than 700” of the stores owned by the company have stopped offering single-use plastic bags to date. 

The 2024 report still listed phasing out single-use plastic bags as a goal with a target year of 2025. However, the company did not mark the goal as “on track” like some of its other initiatives, but rather an “area of focus.”

The company said differences in state and local politics have complicated reducing single-use plastic bags, but did not get into specifics. 

The annual report states Kroger “remains focused on finding feasible ways to reduce the amount of single-use plastic grocery shopping bags used in our stores.” The report did not say when, or if, plastic bags will be phased out. 

A prior report from 2020 stated the company was on track to reach the goal of eliminating the single-use bags by 2025. In 2021, Kroger said it was developing a roadmap for the goal amid "pandemic-related disruptions," but still listed its status as on track. However, in 2022, the company changed the goal's standing from “on track” to an “area of focus," where it remained in 2023.

Plastic bags frequently end up in landfills or the ocean, with animals often ingesting them, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. The nonprofit also claims that it takes 1,000 years for a plastic bag to degrade in a landfill. 

Multiple other retailers have eliminated their use of plastic bags to help reduce the negative environmental impacts they can cause. Whole Foods stopped offering plastic bags in 2008, becoming the first American grocer to do so, according to the company. Trader Joe’s followed suit in 2019 and Aldi in 2023. 

Some states, such as New York and California, have laws banning single-use plastic bags. Kroger, and other grocery chains, have removed single-use bags in states that require it. 

Kroger did not respond to a request for comment regarding its future goals and expected timeline when it comes to completely eliminating single-use plastic bags.