A South African Plastics Pact founding retail member, Woolworths, is conducting a trial in 12 of its stores to explore the possibility of eliminating plastic barrier bags that are used for separating products; including for fruit and veg, and at tills.
The 12 stores conducting the trial include eight from the Western Cape and four from Gauteng:
- Table Bay Mall – WC,
- Waterstone Village – WC,
- Plattekloof Village – WC,
- Palmyra Junction – WC,
- N1 City Mall – WC,
- Village Square – WC,
- Canal Walk – WC,
- Stellenbosch Square – WC
- Hazeldene Square – GP,
- Harvest Place – GP,
- Benmore Gardens -GP, and
- Maroun Square – GP.
Whilst this may seem like a relatively simple step, this decision is fraught with complexity and uncertainty, and the SA Plastics Pact salutes Woolworths for this pioneering action.
“We understand the convenience barrier bags offer, so we have been working on viable solutions,” says Feroz Koor, Woolworths Group Head of Sustainability. “These include responsibly sourced paper bags for loose fruit and vegetables in the trial stores, absorbent drip mats in the fresh flowers area to catch any excess water, and as part of our ongoing packaging improvements we’ve recently introduced rotisserie chicken packaging that eliminates the need for a plastic barrier bag.”
Throughout the trial Woolworths will conduct comprehensive research to assess customer and employee response, gauging the effectiveness of the paper bags, and daily operational impacts with the removal of plastic barrier bags. Insights gleaned from this trial will inform future trials and facilitate the eventual removal of plastic barrier bags from all Woolworths stores.
With the removal of plastic barrier bags from all stores, Woolworths aims to remove 11 million plastic bags every year from polluting our environment, waterways and oceans, or from our landfills.
As part of the Pact, Woolworths, along with our other members, had already worked together to identify and phase out 12 problematic and unnecessary plastic packaging items. This action by Woolworths constitutes just the latest in a number of activities linked to our Target 1 – Taking action on problematic and unnecessary plastic packaging.
To find out more about the problematic and unnecessary plastic packaging items identified for phasing out by members, watch the video below or download this report.
