OUR WORK
Critical Insights Across Our Focus Areas
From sourcing hundreds of innovative alternatives to the single-use bag from around the world, to launching the largest reusable bag tests in the U.S. market to date, we have gathered critical insights in understanding the cultural shift required to move away from our single-use culture. The Beyond the Bag Initiative exemplifies a collaborative approach that thinks outside the box, seeking solutions that align the interests of people, the planet and business.
Bag Waste Reduction Strategies
We explore opportunities to further identify, test and scale proven bag reduction strategies across the U.S.
Identifying Bag Reuse & Waste Reduction Strategies
Show moreWe identified 25 tried and tested strategies from 17 retailers to encourage customers to bring their own bag or go without one, creating an open-source resource to inspire retailers to reduce single-use bags in store.
Testing Bag Reuse Innovations
Show moreWe evaluated multiple factors in our multi-retailer reusable bag tests: from technical feasibility to desirability, testing solutions to see what resonates with customers and retailers and brings value to the recovery system after use.
Learn more about our in-market, multi-retailer reusable bag tests
Testing Bag Return Models
Show moreIn New Jersey, where there is legislation banning single-use bags in certain stores, the Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag tested a “returnable bag” service model in which customers “borrowed” a bag onsite, reused it and then returned it at the same or different retailer’s store to be washed, redistributed and reused by additional customers. This offered a solution for when customers forgot to bring their own reusable bags. This pilot ran from April to July 2023.
Testing Bag Waste Reduction Strategies
Show moreIn New Jersey, where there is legislation banning single-use bags in certain stores, the Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag tested a “returnable bag” service model in which customers “borrowed” a bag onsite, reused it and then returned it at the same or different retailer’s store to be washed, redistributed and reused by additional customers. This offered a solution for when customers forgot to bring their own reusable bags. This pilot ran from April to July 2023.
Policy Activation
We empower retailers, guests, regulators, advocacy groups and innovators to activate data-backed policy best practices to eliminate single-use bag waste.
Collecting Data on Policy Impact
Show moreWe collected unique data on the impact of policy on single-use bag usage and identified best practices to share widely, including the most restrictive policies like New Jersey’s Get Past Plastics Act. The Consortium’s research helps provide recommendations to strengthen the impact of legislation through a variety of mechanisms, including bag fees, bans and design, and we share our data models on the potential environmental impact of legislation.
Learn more about our returnable bag tests to navigate evolving policy landscapes
Innovative Solutions
We identify new solutions to drastically cut single-use bag waste in-store and at pickup, collaborating across the Consortium and industry to identify new solutions and measure their effectiveness in helping customers get their goods home while reducing single-use bag waste.
Sourcing Alternative Solutions
Show moreWe sourced 450 innovative alternative solutions from 60 countries to reduce single-use bag waste. Nine winners were announced, chosen for their innovative solutions that met criteria including sustainability, business and technical viability, accessibility, customer experience, and alignment with reuse and recovery infrastructure Top of Form
Refining Alternative Solutions
Show moreWe supported the refinement of alternatives to single-use bags, emphasizing the importance of thorough research, testing, and collaboration to avoid unintended consequences of large-scale changes. Our Circular Accelerator supported the development of nine innovators, six of which piloted their solutions in Consortium partners’ stores. $1 million in prize money was distributed among the innovators, and an innovation showcase connected startups with retailers, investors and key stakeholders to foster growth.
Recovery
We map out available recovery infrastructure, customer knowledge and design best practices for alternative materials like compostable bags and leverage these insights to engage in discussions for products like produce bags.
Testing Bag Recovery
Show moreWe facilitated 78 product tests to ensure that the design of sustainable bag solutions aligns seamlessly with end-of-life recovery infrastructure, whether through reuse, recycling or composting. This process involved connecting the dots to align on best practices for design and material use, while also mapping potential end-of-life pathways to ensure materials remain in circulation.
Our Impact Areas
Drive reduction
of the total number of single-use bags used through education, incentives, operational changes, nudges and policy
Advance reuse
of existing reusable bags that you have at home or offering customers the option to “borrow” one as part of a reusable bag service
Switch where appropriate
to recoverable single-use bags made of renewable materials when reusable bags aren’t an option