WALMART customers who shop at more than 100 stores will be affected by a new ban on paper and plastic bags.
Supercenters in Washington and Oregon will phase out in-store couriers starting in April.
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Walmart has 66 locations in Washington and 45 in Oregon, according to Best Life.
Single-use plastic and paper bags will be phased out on April 18.
It means shoppers who forget to bring reusable shopping bags will have to pay 74 cents for a new carrier.
Customers have also been encouraged to use containers or cardboard boxes to avoid paying an additional fee.
Jane Ewing, the senior vice president of Walmart Sustainability, said, “Eliminating single-use bags is part of our efforts to reduce waste in our stores and keep Washington’s communities and ecosystems clean.
“Our customers in Washington want to be involved in this journey, and Walmart is committed to making the sustainable choice easy and accessible every day.”
But delivery services continue to use paper bags.
Walmart has revealed that single-use plastic bags will continue to be used to store fruits, vegetables and raw meats.
Single-use plastic bags are already banned in Washington in accordance with state law.
Companies can charge customers eight cents for a paper or thick, reusable plastic bag.
Six other states have already implemented bans, including Vermont, Maine, Colorado, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey.
The ban on plastic and paper bags was rolled out to stores across Connecticut on January 18.
The initiative is part of Walmart’s Beyond the Bag program, but not widely welcomed.
Chris Phelps, the state director of Environment Connecticut, was among those who raised concerns.
He told Hearst Connecticut, “They are more reusable than thinner bags, but the goal of banning plastic bags was primarily to reduce plastic waste. Thicker bags will not get us to that goal.”
Carrie Hoyt, a Connecticut shopper, told NBC affiliate WJAR, “They’re made of paper. I don’t really understand why they throw them away.”
And Tim Chase told CBS affiliate KKTV that the concept of paying for a plastic bag is “stupid.”
He said: “We already have bags. So now we pay for them, the supermarket has already put it in their costs.
Most retailers in Colorado now charge 10 cents for a plastic bag.
Plastic bags have already been eliminated from Walmart stores in Colorado and will be completely phased out in the state by 2024.
Customers have also criticized the fact that they are starting to collect dozens of reusable bags.
Larry Grant told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, “It’s kind of crazy.
“In a month I can collect anywhere from 40 to 50 [bags].”
Grant estimates he collected as many as 300 bags in six months.
The client also revealed that it remains to be seen what environmental benefits the policy will have.
He said: “Banning the plastic bags was a great move, but it was not well thought out.”
And Toronto shopper Udi Sela left dozens of Walmart reusable bags at home.
He told the CBC: “It just creates more waste, which is what we try to avoid in the first place.
“We can’t send them back, we can’t do much with them. There are better ways to do this.”
The plastic bag ban isn’t the only policy that Walmart has hit customers with recently.
At least two supercenters in Portland, Oregon, and one each in Washington DC and Pinellas Park, Florida, will close this month.