Wegmans is phasing out plastic bags at Maryland stores

BALTIMORE -- Starting later this month, all Wegmans stores in Maryland are ditching plastic bags.

The supermarket chain announced Thursday that it will phase out single-use plastic bags from seven Maryland stores, part of a company-wide effort to get rid of them by the end of 2022.

The move, which will get underway on July 28, follows Wegsmans' decision to scrap plastic bags at its Columbia location in the fall of 2020 after Howard County banned them.

Paper grocery bags will still be available in stores for 5 cents per bag, with the proceeds from those bags' sales going toward the food pantry closest to each location.

The lone exception is the Germantown location, which is required to collect the 5-cent charge under local legislation, the chain said.

In a news release, Wegmans said the shift away from single-use bags is designed to get shoppers to rely on reusable grocery bags, so it can cut down on its use of plastics.

The company said this incentive has paid off in markets without plastic bags, where paper bags are involved in 20-25% of sales, while the rest involve reusable bags or no bags.