Giant Eagle, Pittsburgh, Pa., launched a strategic sustainability platform focused on achieving significant milestones related to:

• Plastics
• Waste
• Carbon emissions
• More sustainable products
• Team member engagement

For starters, Giant Eagle announced a target to be free of single-use plastics in its operations by 2025. During this time, Giant Eagle will commence work to move away from single-use plastics in areas such as plastic bags, straws, single-serve fresh food containers, bottled beverages and more.

"When my great-grandfather and the four other founders started Giant Eagle nearly 90 years ago, they wanted to improve life for people in their communities,” says Laura Shapira Karet, president and CEO. “Protecting our planet for future generations is a critical way we uphold this commitment today.”

Giant Eagle is also committing to phasing out the use of the blue-colored single-use plastic bags in all Pittsburgh stores in the coming months.

Additionally, Giant Eagle engaged the Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, to share data and conduct research to understand the impact of the pilot program on the larger community and environment.