GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn. — Dollar General is joining the movement to reinvent the plastic retail bag.

The retailer said Thursday that it is joining Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag as its value sector lead partner. Through its Beyond the Bag Initiative, the consortium aims to find more sustainable alternatives to the plastic bags given out by the billions at retail stores.

“We are delighted to welcome Dollar General to the Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag, joining our Founding Partners CVS Health, Target and Walmart, alongside other leading retailers to pave the way forward for a more sustainable future for retail,” says Kate Daly, managing director of the Center for the Circular Economy at Closed Loop Partners. “As an innovator in the sector, Dollar General’s commitment is critical to making circular solutions more widely available, while addressing the challenges of the single-use bag.”

As a Sector Lead Partner, Dollar General will direct priorities and activities for the Beyond the Bag Initiative in the context of the value sector of retail. DG and its more than 17,000 stores across 46 states will explore viable solutions resulting from the Beyond the Bag Challenge and recommend ways in which these solutions can align with the operations of existing stores and customer needs.

“Dollar General’s desire to be good stewards of our communities while reducing our environmental impact through sustainable and business-friendly practices inherently aligns with the Consortium’s vision for a more sustainable retail industry,” Dollar General executive vice president of store operations Steve Sunderland says. “We understand industry-wide changes and innovative approaches need to be considered, and we look forward to working with Closed Loop Partners and the winning solutions to explore viable alternatives to the current retail bag.”

Approximately 100 billion single-use plastic bags, typically made of non-renewable fossil fuels, are used in the U.S. annually, and less than 10% of these are recycled, according to the consortium. More information about the effort to reinvent the retail bag can be found here.