CONSORTIUM TO REINVENT THE RETAIL BAG

BEYOND THE BAG

Leading retailers unite to address single-use bag waste

The Beyond the Bag Initiative, launched by the Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag, is a multi-year collaboration across retail sectors that aims to identify, test and scale innovative design solutions to create a system that serves the function of the current retail bag, providing customers with convenient, accessible and environmentally-sound solutions.

Through in-market tests and a data-powered strategy, we’re driving near-term impact and long-term systems change. We scale proven strategies that aim to reinvent the retail bag – by engaging consumers on the ground, providing data that can inform supportive policies and testing new solutions in-store and through pickup.

 

Take Action

Newly Released

Sparking a National Culture Shift to Reduce Plastic Bag Waste

From the Consortium’s largest in-market reusable bag tests in Denver and Tucson in 2023, we unlocked groundbreaking insights on what it takes to encourage and support new consumer behaviors that enable reuse and reduction––such as bringing your own reusable bag or opting to go without one.

Read the full report

Why Does the Current Retail Bag Need Reinventing?

For decades, single-use plastic bags have reigned as the dominant design solution for one of the most common human activities: getting a purchase home. But that popularity comes at a great cost; almost all plastic bags end up in a landfill, are incinerated or leak into the environment as trash.

The early history of retail reveals a reality we’re trying to return to: when a purchase and bags were not always a package deal; when the question wasn’t “Paper or plastic?” but rather “How would you like to get this home?”

 

Learn More

Consortium Partners

The Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag has convened industry leaders to find scalable solutions.

 

Learn More

Our Approach to Reinventing the Retail Bag

In the News

See All News