Farro Fresh swaps plastic bags for compostable bags from July

Wednesday, 18 April 2018

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Boutique grocery chain Farro Fresh has gone back on its decision to keep single-use plastic bags.

In December, co-founder James Draper said there were no plans to ban plastic bags or re-introduce a plastic bag levy the company introduced three years ago.

In 2015, Farro Fresh was forced to abandon a decision to charge customers 5 cents for using a plastic bag, following customer backlash.

On Wednesday, co-founder Janene Draper said the company would eliminate single-use plastic bags from its checkouts from July, in favour of compostable ones.

Farro Fresh co-founder and owner Janene Draper says they will offer the compostable bags for free from July.

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The decision came after the Farro Fresh conducted a survey late last year asking customers what they thought about plastic bag usage.

The results showed customer attitudes about plastic bags had changed over the past year, and the response was 'overwhelmingly in favour of a ban,' Draper said.

The compostable bags were made from 100 per cent plant-based materials and would take about a year to decompose, she said.

However, research conducted by Victoria University lecturer Joanne Harvey into how long different materials take to get rid of, shows it can take up to two years for a compostable plastic bag to break down in soil.

By comparison, it takes more than 100 years for plastic bags to decompose, whether it's blown about as litter, buried in landfill, or swept out to sea.

Paper bags take up to two months to break down.

Draper said Farro Fresh had reduced its plastic bag usage by 20 per cent over the past two years. Customers would not be charged for the compostable bags; however, that could change in the future.

'The compostable bags cost around three times more than single-use plastic,' she said.

'As a business striving for sustainable outcomes, we're happy to absorb that cost, [but] if we decide to charge, all the money raised will be donated to an environmental charity supporting this work,' she said.

Farro Fresh follows a move by other New Zealand companies to ban single-use plastic bags.

A number of supermarkets, hardware stores, and clothing brands in New Zealand will soon be plastic-bag free.