Editorial: Giant Eagle’s plastic move challenging
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Giant Eagle made a giant move this week, announcing a plan to eliminate single-use plastics by 2025. But is that even possible?
Walk through a grocery store any day and see how much plastic you encounter as you wander from aisle to aisle. It’s a lot more than just the handled bags at the checkout for your bread, milk, eggs and paper towels.
It’s the wrapper on that bread and tiny colorful tab that seals it. It’s the jug that holds the milk and the lid that screws on top. It’s the carton that holds the eggs and the clear shroud on the paper towels. It’s everywhere.
And there is a reason for it. Plastic isn’t just cheap and glossy. It’s also sanitary and sealable. Wrap a sandwich in paper and a spill can ruin it. Wrap a sandwich in plastic and the bread doesn’t get soggy.
We eat meat packaged in Chicago and cheese produced in Wisconsin and cereal that rolls of an assembly line in Michigan. Part of what makes all of that possible is plastic.
That doesn’t mean Giant Eagle’s plan isn’t laudable or that it won’t work. It just means there are a lot of moving parts to take into consideration on the road to being plastic-free in five years.
It starts with those shopping bags. Come Jan. 15, targeted stores will banish them from registers, replacing them with reusable bags for sale or charging 10 cents for paper bags. SNAP and WIC customers will not pay that fee.
Other items on the chopping block are straws, single-serve fresh food containers and bottled beverages. But that’s where questions start to come in.
Come 2025, what does a Giant Eagle look like? Will you be able to buy a Coke at the check-out? Will they sell plastic wrap or bendy straws? How much impact will a move like this — and moves by eight states including California and New York — put on manufacturers to make changes?
It isn’t impossible. Customer demands are already changing the way companies are looking at packaging. Coca-Cola and AB InBev have developed cardboard replacements for the plastic six-pack rings that cause problems for wildlife.
Change isn’t easy, but kudos to Giant Eagle for not just committing to the effort but being smart enough to make it a stepped move over time that can give both vendors and customers time to adjust.