How Woolworths, Coles are ramping up war on plastic

Australia's supermarket giants have ramped up plans to reduce the amount of plastic in their stores and slash food waste.

Signage at a Woolworths store in Sydney.

Woolworths is expected to unveil strong sales growth outpacing fierce rival Coles. (AAP) Source: AAP

Supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles are stepping up their war on plastic, introducing new bans and targets on Monday.

The retailers committed to going further than their previous announcements to ditch single-use plastic bags in response to demands from consumers.

Woolworths will ban plastic straws by the end of this year, while its program to remove plastic wrap from fruit and vegetables will be expanded to include another 80 products.

It's also searching for a partner to help reduce food waste.

"While we've made progress in reducing the amount of plastic in our stores, supported recycling labelling initiatives, and made improvements in energy efficiency, sustainable sourcing and reducing food waste, we know that more needs to be done to meet our customers' expectations," chief executive Brad Banducci said.

Coles pledged to reduce plastic wrapping on fruit and vegetables, including bunches of bananas, kale and silver beet, and replace meat and poultry packaging with recycled and renewable materials.

"We know that 69 per cent of customers say that we need to actively reduce waste and landfill through recyclable packaging and find alternative uses for waste," Coles managing director John Durkan said.

It set itself a deadline of 2020 to halve food waste from its supermarkets and make all packaging of its home-brand products recyclable.

The retailer will also donate the equivalent of 100 million meals to people in need by redistributing surplus food.

Share
2 min read

Published

Updated

By Helen Chen

Share this with family and friends


News

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
Independent news and stories connecting you to life in Australia and Mandarin-speaking Australians.
Understand the quirky parts of Aussie life.
Get the latest with our exclusive in-language podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
Simplified Chinese Collection

Simplified Chinese Collection

Watch onDemand