Introducing the Playbook: A Retailer’s Toolkit for Single-Use Bag Reduction

With support from McMillanDoolittle, Closed Loop Partners’ Center for the Circular Economy and its Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag released a new playbook of solutions that retailers can use to reduce single-use bags. Featuring proven solutions to encourage shoppers to use reusable bags and reduce the number of single-use bags in stores, the playbook seeks to empower retailers at any stage of their journey with 25 strategies across four categories: communications, employee training, bag and fixture design, and customer incentives. Based on research, interviews, surveys and insights from 17 of the world’s leading retailers, strategies will guide retailers on ways to encourage customers to bring their own bags, effectively merchandise reusable bags, optimize bagging as well as incentives for using fewer single-use bags and more reusable bags.

Image Credit: Closed Loop Partners

The playbook was a collaborative effort led by Closed Loop Partners and Consortia members, with support from McMillanDoolittle, who led in-depth interviews with retailers to capture insights, conducted quantitative and qualitative surveys and synthesized findings. Providing practical solutions from quick wins to more advanced efforts, the toolkit seeks to positively impact the environment and assist retailers with sustainability initiatives while helping them lower costs, address issues related to stocking bags, support and engage employees and customers, and build customer loyalty.

Image Credit: Closed Loop Partners

Since its inception in 2020, The Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag has tripled its retail partners from 5 to 15 and has led over 6,000 initiatives aimed at more sustainably serving the purpose of the retail bag. Looking ahead, Consortium partners will work to utilize multiple strategies from the playbook with the goal of reducing single-use plastic using signage, marketing and customer prompts while piloting a returnable bag model in which customers borrow a bag to be reused, returned, redistributed and eventually reused by other customers.

Download the playbook to learn how retailers can use fewer single-use bags and encourage customers to bring their own reusable bags.

To learn more about the Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag visit Closed Loop Partners. If you’re a retailer or brand who wants to learn more about how McMillanDoolittle can help you with benchmarking and developing brand standards, contact us. To stay up to date with the latest retail news, follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.