Coles to strip entire range from shelves in bold new move

Coles stores will look very different as of Thursday, with the supermarket giant to remove an entire range for good.

The supermarket giant will be looking very different as of Thursday, with an entire range to be stripped from its shelves.

The aisles of more than 2500 Coles supermarkets, Express and Liquor stores around the country will be transformed, with single-use plastic tableware removed for good, to help combat the plastics crisis.

The bold new move will see tableware like timber cutlery and paper plates replace plastic items.

It’s a commitment Coles made back in February this year, when it agreed to no longer sell single-use plastic tableware including cups, plates, bowls, straws and cutlery from July 1, 2021.

RELATED: ‘Problematic’ item NSW wants banned

Coles is no longer going to sell single-use plastic tableware items. Picture: Coles

A Coles spokesperson said it’s a move customers have been waiting for.

“A recent Coles survey showed 65 per cent are concerned about the environmental impacts of single-use plastic tableware and prefer sustainable alternatives,” the spokesperson told news.com.au.

“Our customers are telling us they want to make more sustainable choices and this is one way we are helping them.”

The spokesperson said shelves will be replenished with sustainable tableware alternatives including reusable options “and our Green Choice range of plates, bowls and cups which are compostable made using sugarcane pulp”.

The way food products are packaged could also change with the supermarket giant looking into advanced recycling which turns soft plastic, like bread bags and chip packets, back into oil in order to produce new soft plastic food packaging.

If nothing is done, by 2040 the amount of plastic on the market will have doubled and plastic entering the ocean will have almost tripled.

This includes plastic cups, cutlery and plates. Picture: Coles

It comes as the retailer released its Coles’ Sustainability Strategy centred around the two pillars of “Together to Zero” and “Better Together”.

Pip Kiernan, chairman of Clean Up Australia, said it’s “heartening” to see Coles making “impressive, impactful changes”.

“Earlier this year we surveyed 9000 of our Clean Up Australia volunteers and 95 per cent of them were strongly supportive of the phasing out of problematic single-use plastics,” Ms Kiernan said, adding it’s the change the community wants to see.

“These items are not recyclable; they are designed to be used once and discarded, going to landfill and many ending up in our environment as litter. Last year our volunteers reported that over half of all items they collected were plastic or contained plastic,” she said.

According to Coles, the move will divert 1.5 million kilograms worth of single-use plastic from landfill each year.

It’s not the only major retailer making a change, with Woolworths, Coca-Cola, Arnott’s and Nestle also on-board to tackle the plastics crisis, by joining the ANZPAC Plastics Pact.

Instead, it will be replaced with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified tableware like timber cutlery and paper plates. Picture: Coles

Aldi corporate responsibility director Daniel Baker said the German chain is on track to achieve its goal of reducing plastic packaging by 25 per cent by 2025.

“We have been working with our business partners to remove single-use plastics, reduce the volume of packaging and source recycled materials,” he said.

Adrian Cullen, head of sustainability at Woolworths, said the pact is the first of its kind.

“[It’s an] opportunity for the entire industry and every level of the supply chain to rally around this challenge and collaborate on solutions that reduce plastic waste for the benefit of the environment and generations to come,” he said.