Walmart to start charging shoppers 5 cents per plastic bag

Bags at a Walmart store in the Porter Ranch area of Los Angeles, on April 9, 2009. (Reed Saxon / AP)

TORONTO -- Walmart Canada will begin to charge customers for plastic bags as part of its strategy for cutting the amount of plastic that ends up in landfills.

Beginning on Feb. 9, customers will be charged five cents each for plastic bags, with reusable bags available for a discounted rate of 25 cents each.

The company -- headquartered in Mississauga, west of Toronto -- said that the introduction of a small fee in other countries has helped Walmart to reduce the number of plastic bags by more than half.

Walmart says some of the proceeds from the new charge will go toward supporting recycling initiatives for grocery bags and other thin plastic objects.

The company said it's also going to improve in-store recycling and collection programs and work with suppliers to find ways of removing plastic from its packaging.

Walmart Canada has 397 stores and serves more than 1.2 million customers per day.