- Yesterday New Zealand supermarket giant, Countdown, joined the crusade against single-use plastic bags, vowing to phase them out by the end of 2018.
- This came after an online survey discovered 83% of their customers supported the change.
- This will prevent around 350 million plastic bags entering the environment every year.
Welcome to the no-plastic-bag party Countdown!
All 184 stores across the country will be bag-free by the end of 2018.
But, unlike the many Australian supermarkets that have already addressed this issue, Countdown doesn’t want to charge for thicker plastic bags, opting for other solutions instead.
“Charging is also not the ideal outcome for the environment, because these bags are still provided,” Countdown’s managing director Dave Chambers said.
They’re now looking at appropriate alternatives like reusable bags, compostable and paper bags, with the reusable fabric bags being reduced to just $1 from October 9.
Smaller stores, like SuperValue and FreshChoice, are also set to phase out plastic bags, with a date still to be announced.
As for other kiwi supermarkets, New World is currently holding a “Bag Vote” to see if customers would pay for plastic bags, while PAK’nSAVE has always charged for plastic bags, offering free cardboard boxes to transport your groceries instead.
Ka pai (well done) Countdown!
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