Huge change to Woolworths and Coles plastic bag policy

Coles and Woolworths are ditching some of their plastic bags and producing shopping bags in a bid to reduce waste.

Woolworths is getting rid of its 15c plastic bags in Queensland and ACT, while Coles will abandon its mesh produce bags introduced in Canberra last year.

Woolworths Queensland state general manager Danny Baldwin said the decision was influenced by his customers, with 80 per cent of customers already using bags brought from home.

“Currently eighty percent of our customers bring their own bag, so over the years I think customers have really responded to bag reuse,” Baldwin said.

“By removing the 15p plastic bag in Queensland and the ACT, we will remove over 1,600 tonnes of plastic from the system.”

Paper, cloth and cold bags will continue to be available for purchase in stores.

Meanwhile, Coles stores have ditched a reusable mesh bag for fruit and vegetables that the supermarket giant has been testing in Canberra since September.

It replaced plastic bags in the produce aisles and would have been expanded to all Coles stores across the country if the trial had been successful. CityNews informed.

But the bags didn’t strike a chord with customers or staff.

Instead, Coles will use compostable fruit and vegetable bags after customers found the drastic change “challenging”.

“We recognize that a significant change of this type was challenging for both our customers and the teams in the store,” a spokesperson said.

“However, we remain committed to working towards appropriate and accessible plastic reduction initiatives for our customers in the future.”

Baldwin said Woolies is also working on how to clear its grocery aisles of plastic bags and hopes to phase out their use in its online business this year.