Major change being trialled in Coles to reduce waste
Coles has announced that they will be removing plastic bags from their fruits and vegetables section in a bid to reduce the use of single plastic.
The supermarket will trial the removal of plastic bags at their ACT stores from 31 August until 13 September.
Customers will be required to bring their own bags from home or can otherwise purchase reusable mesh fresh produce bags.
In a bid to help customers, shoppers who spend $5 in store on fruit and veggies will receive a free 3-pack of reusable mesh fresh produce bags that is made from 90 per cent recycled materials.
Once the trial is over, all 12 Coles stores will have single use bags for fresh produce removed from September 14.
Coles Chief Operations and Sustainability Officer Matt Swindells explained that the initiative is one of the many ways the supermarket is looking to reduce waste.
“Under our Together to Zero waste ambition, we are always looking for ways to reduce reliance on unnecessary and problematic single-use plastics packaging and provide sustainable solutions to our customers,” he said.
“This will be the first time a major Australian supermarket will trial a completely reusable method of helping customers purchase their fresh fruit and veggies.
“We will be looking closely at how our ACT customers respond. These insights will inform our consideration for potentially rolling this out to our customers nationally.”
It comes as Coles rolled out fresh produce bags nationally that are made from 50 per cent recycled plastic.
The bags can be returned to REDcycle bins at Coles supermarkets to be recycled.
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