Coles defends bag charge delay, sets new deadline for switch

Coles has defended its green credentials after being attacked for extending the period it hands out free, reusable plastic bags.

“Putting customers first.” Coles boss John Durkan. Pic: Stuart McEvoy

Coles chief executive John Durkan has written to the supermarket giant’s 115,000 staff to defend its decision to extend the period it will hand out free, reusable plastic bags.

His move comes as the retailer faces increasing attacks from environmental groups and activists over its slower-than-hoped transition from single use bags to charging for thicker, reusable bags.

Coles had meant to stop providing its reusable Better Bags for free on August 1 and start charging customers 15 cents per bag, but has now backflipped on that decision.

In his email to staff, obtained by The Australian, Mr Durkan has strongly defended the retailer’s environmental credentials in the face of pressure from environmental groups following yesterday’s announcement.

Coles said today it will continue to give out free bags until August 29, after initially setting no firm date.

Rival Woolworths has been charging 15 cents for its bags since the middle of last month.

The removal of plastic bags from check-outs has caused confusion and flustered some shoppers, as supermarkets grapple with the cultural change.

It has also seen some anger directed at supermarket staff.

“At Coles we are absolutely committed to reducing our impact on the environment and making a positive contribution to the communities in which our customers and team members live and work,” Mr Durkan told Coles staff this morning.

He conceded the transition away from single-use plastic bags to reusable bags that come with a 15 cent charge had been a difficult one for customers.

“One part of this commitment is removing single-use plastic bags from our stores. As you would have experienced first-hand in stores, this has been a big and difficult change for many of our customers.

“Over the past month, we’ve been delighted to see our customers grow more and more accustomed to bringing their reusable bags from home.”

Mr Durkan defended Coles’ decision to continue to hand out free bags rather than charge 15 cents as core to its focus to put the customer first.

“But we know that many customers are still finding themselves a bag or two short at the register and we want to do the right thing by them during this transition period.

“Putting our customers first is in our DNA and we must always be empathetic and responsive to their needs.”

Reusable bags dumped in a skip in Sydney. Pic John Grainger

Some analysts believe the removal of single-use plastic bags and friction at the check-outs could be costing sales for both Coles and Woolworths.

Mr Durkan told staff free bags would be given to shoppers until August 29.

“That’s why we are extending our complimentary bag offer until Wednesday August 29 for our customers in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and Western Australia. I appreciate this transition phase is taking longer than anticipated but it is absolutely the right thing to do by our customers.

“Our move to reusable plastic bags is just one element of our sustainability agenda. We should all be really pleased about the progress we are making to halve food waste in our supermarkets by 2020, make all Coles Brand packaging recyclable by 2020 and divert 90 per cent of all waste from landfill by 2022.”

More than 10 years ago the Productivity Commission found that plastic bags made up less than 0.2 per cent of landfill and that charging money for bags was a “weak” and “unsound” way to help the environment.