Woolworths, Coles and Harris Farm Markets ditch plastic bags

THE nation’s largest supermarkets are ditching single-use plastic bags across the country, in major announcements made today.

HARRIS Farm Markets is the latest retailer to join Woolworths and Coles in a bid to completely phase out single-use plastic bags across the country over the next 12 months, in a major announcement made today.

Woolworths customers will instead be required to either pay 15 cents for a reusable bag or bring their own.

Harris Farm Markets customers, meanwhile, will be offered a range of free small single-use paper bags and reusable paper bags sold at cheaper than 15 cents or cost price.

Woolworths says it currently gives out more than 3.2 billion lightweight plastic bags a year, describing the bag ban as “the right thing to do as one of Australia’s largest retailers”.

The decision will affect stores in NSW, Victoria and WA, bringing them into line with South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT, which already have statewide bans on plastic bags. Queensland’s state government has legislated a ban, which comes into effect next year.

It will cover all of Woolworths Group, including supermarkets, online shopping, Big W and liquor chain BWS. Dan Murphy’s and Cellarmasters have already scrapped single-use bags.

Woolworths will phase out single-use plastic bags.

“As a group we are committed to listening to our customers and also doing the right thing for the environment, and we feel this is an issue we need to take a stand on,” Woolworths chief executive Brad Banducci said in a statement on Friday.

“We currently give out more than 3.2 billion lightweight plastic bags a year and hence can play a significant role in reducing overall plastic bag usage. Today’s commitment shows we are committed to taking our environmental and community responsibilities seriously.

“Whilst we know this is a major decision, we will work very closely with all of our store teams to ensure the transition for our customers is as simple as possible.

“Our customers expect responsible retailing and they can be assured that this is just the start of further commitments by Woolworths in this space. Our team continues to work hard to minimise our impact on the environment through the minimisation of food waste, ethical and sustainable sourcing, and reduction in energy use.”

Hours after Woolworths’ announcement, Coles followed suit and said it would also phase out disposable plastic bags throughout its stores.

Later Friday evening, Harris Farm Markets announced a commitment to remove single-use, lightweight plastic bags from all stores by 1 January 2018.

“Today we congratulate Coles and Woolworths for making a commitment to change the trajectory of our collective pollution with a commitment to remove plastic bags in 12 months,” Harris Farm Markets co-CEOs Angus, Luke and Tristan Harris said in a statement.

“Our shoppers have also made a significant impact by saying no to plastic bags at the checkout, with our #BanTheBag campaign delivering a $40,000 donation to Clean up Australia since April.

“Together we are all stronger.”

“For at least 10 years we have offered our customers the choice of cardboard fruit boxes as an alternative to plastic bags. From 1 January 2018, we will also offer a range of free small single-use paper bags and reusable paper bags sold at cheaper than 15 cents or cost price.

“We will continue to work towards an outright ban on single-use plastic bags. We believe the NSW Government needs to enact a full ban to avoid us facing a frightening future where we pollute and destroy our marine wildlife.”

Samantha Wockner, plastics campaigner with Greenpeace Asia Pacific, welcomed the news. “It shows that Woolworths are listening to their consumers, it’s a clear sign that consumers don’t want single-use plastic bags any more,” she said.

“We would love to see Coles and other retailers follow suit, and we hope states that haven’t banned the bag yet push through legislation. We think WA is strongly considering it, so we hope this pushes them over the edge.”

Jon Dee, managing director of environmental lobby group Do Something and founder of the National Plastic Bag Campaign, said Woolworths’ announcement was “very good news”.

“We now need to see Coles taking the same stance as Woolworths in phasing out the use of plastic bags and charging for thicker plastic bags,” he said.

“Banning thin plastic bags and charging for thicker plastic bags is the approach that Aldi has taken since they first started in Australia in 2001. There’s no reason why this approach can’t be taken by all retailers.

“The Federal Environment Minister now needs to implement a national ban on thin plastic bags that uses the model being used by Aldi and Woolworths. Such a national ban would reduce Australia’s plastic bag use by at an estimated six billion bags a year.”

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