Foodstuffs: Kiwis aren't quite ready to go plastic bag free

Wednesday, 16 May 2018

The head of supermarket giant Foodstuffs says New Zealanders are not ready to 'go cold turkey' on plastic bags yet.

Chris Quin said while many shoppers were remembering to bring reusable bags, there were still some who were 'tussling with the change'.

To help customers prepare, New World, Pak 'n Save, and Four Square would start trialling alternatives, such as heavy duty reusable plastic bags and paper bags, before banning single-use plastic bags for good.

'Choosing the right options to test is trickier than it looks. It's not as simple as immediately switching to a heavy duty reusable plastic bag like the ones they use in the UK or Australia, or compostable plastic, or paper,' Quin said.

* Countdown chooses 10 supermarkets to go plastic bag free, rest to follow**

The heavy duty reusable plastic bag was a 'good option', as it could be used a few times before being recycled as a soft plastic, he said.

New World already has soft plastic recycling stations at some of its stores for single-use plastic bags.

New World, Pak 'n Save, and Four Square will be trialling heavy duty reusable plastic bags and paper bags in its stores as an alternative to single-use plastic bags.

The science behind providing alternative options to customers was 'fairly complex', he said. Some eco-options did not compost readily in every enviornment and if they ended up in landfill they could release methane.

Or if they entered the soft plastics recycling stream, they could destroy the integrity of the recycled products.

'Our choice also depends a lot on how the bags will be used; once, a few times, or over many months or even years, the numbers need to stack up.'

Foodstuffs has not set a date of when it will start to phase out plastic bags, despite its biggest rival, Countdown, announcing it had chosen 10 supermarkets to go plastic bag free from May 21.

Countdown's remaining 172 stores would follow by the end of the year.

Quin said the company was making 'great progress' to help customers get ready for the transition.

'When New World made the commitment to go single-use plastic bag free at the checkout by the end of 2018, we knew it was a mammoth task, but one that needed to be done.

'Simply banning the bag is a relatively mechanical process, and not too hard to achieve, however the real trick is helping our customers make the adjustment. Then we have to look at choosing the right alternatives.'

Foodstuffs North Island chief executive Chris Quin says shoppers are not ready to 'go cold turkey' on single-use plastic bags yet.

FoodStuffs North Island is yet to provide a figure of how many plastic bags it goes through in a week, while its rival Countdown, which has less than half the number of stores, uses about 6.73 million a week.

Foodstuffs, which has more than 435 supermarkets, is yet to provide a figure for how many plastic bags it goes through in a week.

By comparison, Countdown, which owns 182 grocery stores, uses about 6.73 million a week.

Since Countdown's announcement that it was banning single-use plastic bags, a number of supermarkets, hardware stores, and clothing brands have followed suit.