Australian supermarket giant Coles will be making its next step toward eliminating single-use plastics in stores across Western Australia, in compliance with the state’s ban on the supply of certain plastic items. So here’s what you need to know if you’re a WA baddie.
With stage two of the state’s massive bans on a range of plastic products taking effect on Sunday, September 1, Coles has gotten ahead of the curb and removed single-use produce bags from its WA stores.
Ya know those lil’ baggies that you put your fresh and healthy stuff in?
Yeah well, they’re gone. Meaning that a whopping 36 million single-use plastic products will no longer be added into circulation each year.
But don’t worry, you’ll still have a way to store your fresh foods in your trolley/tote bag without them getting contaminated, ‘cos Coles has partnered with sustainability organisation Planet Ark to find an environmentally-friendly solution.
From today, Coles has replaced all its old single-use plastic produce bags with new ones that are compostable.
Coles’ chief operations and sustainability officer Matt Swindells welcomed the change as something that will appease customers, and be good for the planet.
“We know our customers want to see less plastic in our stores,” he said.
“Our customers will now be able to pack their fresh fruit and veg in certified compostable bags that can either be put it in their council bin for those in participating local government areas or added to home compost where it will break down naturally.”
CEO of Planet Ark Rebeca Gilling said the change was a good one on Coles’ behalf, but also strongly encouraged customers to still recycle their bags as much as possible.
“Compostable bags help families recycle food waste by providing them with an easy and convenient way to collect food scraps at home that otherwise could have ended up in landfill,” she said.
Although the CEO says the move is “definitely a step in the right direction”, she also notes that there are cases when you don’t even need to use a bag to store your fresh items.
“Our advice to customers purchasing loose fruit and vegetables is to place items directly into their trolley or basket wherever possible, particularly products with their own ‘natural packaging’ such as bananas and avocados,” Gilling said.
Coles famously removed single-use plastic carry bags in 2018, and replaced them with a recyclable option in the form of 100% recycled paper bags which can be purchased at the checkout.
Western Australia and South Australia are the only states in the country to have enforced the elimination of single-use produce bags.
Congratulations to them both for getting off the bags. People in Sydney could never.
[Image: Getty]
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