A third of Countdown stores are plastic free at checkouts

Monday, 13 August 2018

Countdown customers support the supermarket chain's decision to remove plastic bags from a third of its stores, but want it to also include other plastic packaging.

On Monday the supermarket removed single-use plastic bags from 42 stores of its 182 stores nationwide, including all stores in Dunedin, Invercargill, Nelson and Blenheim and eight stores in Auckland. In May Countdown removed the bags from 10 stores, as a pilot.

Countdown spokeswoman Kiri Hannifin​ said plastic bags at Countdowns around the country would be phased out by the end of the year, but did not provide a specific date.

'We are listening to the growing level of concern New Zealanders have around plastic pollution,' Hannifin said.

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'Small changes can make a huge difference, which is why we are moving quickly to deliver on our promise to remove single-use plastic carrier bags, and reduce the use of unnecessary plastic wherever and whenever possible across our business.'

In its earlier 10-store pilot, nearly two-thirds of people brought in their own bags, she said.

A shopper at Countdown's Ponsonby store in Auckland, Chloe Houston said she supported the move of removing plastic bags from the checkout, but wanted to see less plastic elsewhere in the store.

'This move's a stepping stone I guess, but all the rest of the plastic you accumulate in your trolley is pretty frightening,' Houston said.

'We need to look at not only eliminating plastic but also how we create less waste.'

Irish tourist Ciaran Walsh said he used a plastic bag for the first time in several years in New Zealand.

'We don't have the plastic bags for free in Ireland and we haven't had them for years. And because of that, nobody uses them,' Walsh said.

'I tried to re-use mine from yesterday, but they're still so easily available I just got another one today, because they're there.'

New Zealanders use about 1.6 billion single-use plastic bags a year, which end up in landfills, as litter, and in the sea. 

On Friday, the Government announced single-use plastic bags would be phased out over the next 12 months.

Between 4.8 million to 12.7 million metric tons of plastic entered the oceans in 2010 from people living within 50 kilometres of the coast in 192 countries.

Foodstuffs announced earlier this month that its supermarket brands, including New World, Pak 'n Save and Four Square, would stop providing plastic checkout bags from the start of next year.

Nancy, who did not want to give her full name, said she was skeptical about the supermarkets' decision to reduce plastic bags from checkouts but not packaging altogether.

'It makes them look good, but it also benefits them. Possibly more than in just one way. It will get more customers through the door because of the idea of being more ecologically sound.

'I do think it also saves them money.'

Hannifin said the company had also removed plastic packaging from bananas, and would be removing single-use plastic straws by 1 October.

The company also plans to package its in-store bakery goods in New Zealand-made recycled plastic, made from domestic plastic waste, but no date had been set.

At the Ponsonby Countdown the paper bakery bags had a patch of plastic. The two materials have to be separated before recycling.