DeCicco's to Eliminate Use of Plastic Bags

DeCicco & Sons, operators of a chain of family-owned supermarkets in the Hudson Valley, has announced the latest step in their continuing commitment to environmental stewardship. The company will fully eliminate single-use plastic bags in all seven of their stores, within the next thirty days.

“We’ve decided to take this step because we take very seriously the role that we have within our communities, and the responsibility we have to be good corporate citizens,” shared John DeCicco Jr., CEO of the DeCicco & Sons chain. He went on to say, “Over the last several years, we’ve undertaken quite a number of environmental initiatives, we think that being environmentally conscious is not just smart business, but that it’s an ethical imperative.”

DeCicco & Sons has introduced a wide range of green initiatives in their stores, among them; the use of highly efficient LED lighting, installation of rooftop solar panels, the use of natural refrigerants, the installation of doors on refrigerated cases and implementing advanced environmental controls in the stores. DeCicco and Sons’ dedication to environmental responsibility has received recognition and accolades, including a Platinum GreenChill certification, the U.S. EPA’s highest sustainability award for food retailers, a pending LEED certification for the Larchmont location, and a 2018 Westchester County Eco Award, among many others.

“As DeCicco & Sons continues to grow, we’re being very diligent about how we operate. We use reclaimed materials and smart building technology when we build a new store, such as the soon-to-open Somers location,” explained chain V.P., Joseph DeCicco Jr. “We also place an emphasis on sourcing the highest quality products from local suppliers. Environmental consciousness is something that we believe is important to our customers, and it’s definitely important to us as a family, and as a company.”

“As the stores eliminate single-use plastic bags, we’ll continue to have paper bags available for the convenience of our customers, but we’ll be encouraging people to use durable, reusable shopping bags,” said company V.P. Christopher DeCicco. Customers that return to the store with their own bags will receive a credit on their register total. Chris explained, “We took a look at our operations, and identified that this was the single most positive environmental change that we could make. We used 22 million plastic bags last year. That won’t happen again next year.”

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, single-use plastic bags are one of the top five single-use plastics found in the environment by magnitude, and they are one of the top five items encountered in coastline clean-ups.