Consumer Behavior Change

Retailers Invite 10M CA Consumers to ‘Break Up with Single-Use Bags’

Beyond the Bag Initiative engages Target, CVS Health, Ralphs and Food 4 Less customers to cut single-use bag waste across nearly 1K Southern California stores.

Published 4 months ago | About a 4 minute read

Image: Closed Loop Partners

In a continued push to reduce single-use bag waste, the Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag — an industry collaboration managed by Closed Loop Partners' Center for the Circular Economy — has launched the largest retail campaign of its kind in California, inviting customers to "Break Up with Single-Use Bags." Supporting the initiative are Target and CVS Health, and The Kroger Co. through its local banners Ralphs and Food 4 Less.

Rolling out this week in nearly 1,000 stores across Southern California, the campaign invites more than 10 million customers to reduce single-use bag waste and build a more circular future for their communities and the retail industry.

"This campaign reflects a growing movement of retailers and communities working together, guided by data and a shared vision, to shift the retail experience toward one that eliminates waste altogether by reducing our reliance on disposable bags," said Kate Daly, Managing Partner and Head of the Center for the Circular Economy at Closed Loop Partners.

The campaign launches at a pivotal time, as major retailers recognize the need to support customer behavior change to meet waste-reduction goals. It launches in California ahead of a significant policy shift: Beginning in January 2026, the state will make a second effort to rein in plastic bag waste by banning all single-use and thicker plastic bags — offering paper as the only single-use bag option. This transition presents a key opportunity for impact, based on evidence that well-designed policies paired with effective consumer engagement can drive meaningful reductions in single-use bag waste.

"Break Up with Single-Use Bags" is an ongoing, open campaign inviting customers and retailers to let go of familiar — yet operationally and environmentally challenging — habits of disposable bag use, and transition toward more resource-efficient, low-waste choices.

"At Target, we're proud to offer products and services that provide our guests with more sustainable options," said Agata Ramallo Garcia, VP and head of enterprise sustainability at Target. "We're thrilled to support efforts like the Beyond the Bag Initiative that offer guests convenient solutions that reduce environmental impact and make a meaningful impact for the communities we serve."

The campaign includes a major rollout across Orange County, San Diego County and the Inland Empire with a suite of customer engagement strategies — including in-store signage, checkout prompts, parking lot signage and out-of-store marketing — all designed to engage shoppers at key decision points. The campaign's design was informed by data and insights from the Center for the Circular Economy's previous in-market community-wide activations — including the Reusable Cup Project in Petaluma, California in 2024 and Bring Your Own Bag pilots in Denver, Colorado and Tucson, Arizona in 2023.

The in-market tests in Denver and Tucson deployed similar strategies and resulted in statistically significant reductions in single-use bag consumption. In Denver, where bag legislation is already in place, single-use bag transactions decreased by 11.7 percent. Across both markets, the pilot was estimated to have reduced single-use bag use by approximately 9.5 million bags annually. This new in-market activation in California builds on proven tactics, with an expanded scope and extended timeline — running for over a year to generate deeper insights into long-term behavior change and systems-level outcomes.

“The ‘Break Up with Single-Use Bags’ campaign reflects the kind of collaborative, community-powered solution that will have lasting influence,” said Jessica Toth, Executive Director of San Diego-based nonprofit Solana Center for Environmental Innovation. “We are pleased to partner with Closed Loop Partners and the Beyond the Bag initiative to connect diverse regional stakeholders, enabling the significant breadth and reach of this program. By engaging individuals, businesses and local jurisdictions, this campaign empowers sustainable behavior change across Southern California—meeting people where they are, providing a practical climate solution, and making a measurable impact on the waste challenges we face regionally and beyond.”

Closed Loop Partners invites all retailers, community members and local stakeholders in the participating Southern California communities to join in this effort to create a broader cultural shift to reduce and reuse — visit the "Break Up with Single-Use Bags" hub to download campaign materials and join the movement.