Loblaws Begins Charging for Plastic Bags Monday

Loblaw kicks-off the new year by launching its plastic bag reduction program in the City of Toronto stores and announcing partnership with WWF-Canada

Four in five Torontonians support Loblaw plastic shopping bag reduction

program

On the eve of Loblaw Companies Limited’s Toronto launch of its "Together We Can Help the Environment" campaign aimed at

reducing plastic shopping bag use, Loblaw encourages Torontonians to take

action on protecting the environment by remembering to bring reusable bags or

boxes when they go grocery shopping.

Starting Monday, January 12, 2009, Loblaw corporate and participating

franchise stores in the City of Toronto will no longer provide complimentary

plastic shopping bags at check-out and charge $0.05 per plastic shopping bag,

when they are requested by customers. Toronto is the lead city for the

campaign, which will roll out nationally on April 22, 2009, Earth Day.

Research conducted for Loblaw by Leger Marketing in December 2008

revealed that four in five Torontonians (84%) support Loblaw’s plan to divert

1 billion plastic shopping bags from landfills in 2009 by implementing a pay

for plastic shopping bag program.

"From our historic opening of five bagless stores over the past 18 months

and the more than 14 million PC(R) G.R.E.E.N.(R) Reusable Shopping Bags sold,

to the positive reaction to our plan to divert 1 billion plastic bags from

landfills by the end of this year, we have had consistent feedback from

Canadians about their support of our environmental initiatives," says Inge van

den Berg, Vice President, Public Affairs & Investor Relations, Loblaw

Companies Limited. "The survey results reinforce that Torontonians are looking

for ways to take action to protect the environment and that the Loblaw

initiative is another step in the right direction to help reduce waste."

Loblaw research indicates that the primary barrier to using reusable bags

is remembering to bring them into the store. Starting tomorrow, customers

shopping at City of Toronto Loblaw stores will notice new "Bring it" external

and in-store reminder signage, information cards and, over the coming

weekends, special teams of "Green Greeters" to help remind customers to bring

their reusable "Bring it" options.

For those shoppers who require plastic bags, Loblaw has also invested in

a larger and heavier gauge plastic shopping bag made with plastic waste

material recovered from the manufacturing process. The thicker, larger bag

makes it stronger allowing for repeat use and more items per bag. Some

customers may notice minor adjustments to cashier stations in order to better

support reusable bags.

To help customers with the transition away from plastic shopping bags,

Loblaw is offering a variety of special limited time promotions in its Toronto

stores. From January 9th to 18th, our PC G.R.E.E.N. Reusable Shopping Bags

(large and regular size) are 50 per cent off. Visit http://www.loblaws.ca,

http://www.superstore.ca, http://www.valuemart.ca and http://www.fortinos.ca for an online coupon

for a free G.R.E.E.N. Box with a minimum $25 purchase at participating Toronto

stores (see online details for coupons).

"From the beginning, Loblaw has been the industry leader in helping the

City of Toronto reach our goal of reducing the amount of solid waste the city

has to manage, particularly the hundreds of millions of plastic bags used and

disposed of in the city every year," said Toronto Mayor David Miller. "The

decision to introduce this program in Toronto further illustrates our shared

vision for a modern, clean, green 21st century city."

Loblaw and WWF-Canada

To help support environmental and sustainability goals and mark the 20th

anniversary of PC(R) Green products, Loblaw is pleased to be working on a

multi-year partnership with WWF-Canada.

"Loblaw is thrilled to be able to partner with WWF-Canada, an outstanding

organization that shares our deep commitment to respect the environment and

who has demonstrated their ability to drive positive results in helping

Canadians take action on the environment," said Daniel Tremblay, Senior

Vice-President, Corporate Social Responsibility, Loblaw Companies Limited.

Partial proceeds from the charge on plastic shopping bags from Loblaw

corporate stores will be donated to WWF-Canada to support environmental

programs. Details will be announced on April 22, 2009, Earth Day, in concert

with the national roll out of Loblaw’s reduction of plastic shopping bag

program.

"We applaud Loblaw for taking a leadership position in reducing plastic

shopping bag consumption and promoting more sustainable alternatives. We

encourage everyone to go plastic bag free and look forward to working with

Loblaw to encourage Canadians to take actions that lower their impact on the

environment," said Gerald Butts, President and CEO, WWF-Canada.

WWF-Canada

WWF-Canada is part of WWF, the world’s largest conservation organization.

At WWF we advocate and promote lasting solutions to the challenge of balancing

growing human need and environmental sustainability. In collaboration with

business, government, communities and individuals we take a science-based

approach to the protection, management and restoration of environmentally

sensitive parts of our planet. Our work includes visionary projects focused on

climate change, freshwater and the health of habitat and species across Canada

and around the world. For more information about WWF-Canada visit http://www.wwf.ca

About Loblaw Companies Limited

Loblaw Companies Limited, a subsidiary of George Weston Limited, is

Canada’s largest food distributor and a leading provider of drugstore, general

merchandise and financial products and services. Loblaw is one of the largest

private sector employers in Canada. With more than 1,000 corporate and

franchised stores from coast to coast, Loblaw and its franchisees employ over

140,000 full-time and part-time employees. Through its portfolio of store

formats, Loblaw is committed to providing Canadians with a wide, growing and

successful range of products and services to meet the everyday household

demands of Canadian consumers. Loblaw is known for the quality, innovation and

value of its food offering. It offers Canada’s strongest control (private)

label program, including the unique President’s Choice(R), no name(R) and Joe

Fresh Style(R) brands. In addition, the Company makes available to consumers

President’s Choice financial services and offers the PC points loyalty

program.