Equity and project finance company Closed Loop Partners (New York, New York / USA; www.closedlooppartners.com) and three US retailers have announced the “Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag” with the goal of identifying, testing and implementing viable design solutions and models that more sustainably serve the purpose of the current retail bag. Walmart (Bentonville, Arkansas / USA; www.walmart.com), Target (Minneapolis, Minnesota / USA; www.target.com) and pharmacy store chain CVS Health (Woonsocket, Rhode Island / USA; www.cvs.com) formed the consortium, committing more than USD 15m (almost EUR 13m) to launch the “Beyond the Bag Initiative”.

Supermarket chain Kroger (Columbus, Ohio / USA; www.kroger.com) joined the consortium as grocery sector lead partner, and pharmacy store chain Walgreens (Deerfield, Illinois / USA; www.walgreens.com) joined as a supporting partner. Environmental nonprofit Ocean Conservancy (Washington, D.C. / USA; www.oceanconservancy.org) and Conservation International (Arlington County, Virginia / USA; www.conservation.org) are also part of the group as environmental advisory partners.

The three-year initiative invites additional retailers to submit ideas for sustainable plastic bag solutions. Innovative retail bag designs will be solicited from around the world through the consortium’s global “Innovation Challenge”, launched in partnership with design and consultancy firm Ideo (Palo Alto, California / USA; www.ideo.com).

Every year, over 100 bn single-use plastic retail bags are used in the US, yet less than 10% of these are recycled, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).