Supermarkets reduce plastic bag use

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Foodstuffs supermarkets have used 45 million fewer plastic bags to pack shopping over the past two years.

"The reduction in the number of plastic bags used is very positive in itself, but what's even more encouraging is the momentum they indicate," executive manager, Foodstuffs New Zealand Melissa Hodd said. Pak'n'Save, New World and Four Squares stores form the Foodstuffs chain.

"In the first year (to June 2006) we cut plastic bag use by 16 million bags over the previous year.

"This year we reduced plastic bag use by a further 29 million bags to achieve a total of 45 million plastic bags over two years."

Last month Foodstuffs and rival supermarket chain Progressive Enterprises announced a joint campaign to cut down the number of plastic shopping bags handed out in their stores.

Check-out operators around the country were now asking customers to think twice before they accepted plastic bags, and were encouraging them to use reusable shopping bags instead.

The Packaging Council was also involved in the project, which stemmed from a 2004 accord signed by government, retailers and environment groups, with the aim of reducing New Zealand's use of plastic bags.

Ms Hodd said Foodstuffs had reduced the number of plastic bags it issued each year by 13.3 per cent, and was on track to meet or exceed the target set by the Packaging Accord to reduce its overall use of plastic bags by at least 20 per cent by mid-2009.

"As a result of people using fewer plastic bags, and the introduction of lighter-weight bags, in the year to June 2007 we used 23 per cent less plastic for checkout bags than two years ago. That's a saving of 679 tonnes of plastic per year," Ms Hodd said.

- NZPA