Coles to Scrap Single-use shopping bags
Coles is pleased to confirm that single-use plastic bags will be phased out from all Coles stores over the next 12 months in favour of more sustainable options.
14 July 2017
NSW, QLD, VIC and WA to join other states
The announcement follows several months of consultation with a number of non-government organisations and environmental groups on a plan to transition away from single-use bags.
The move will bring Coles stores in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia into line with Tasmania, South Australia, the Northern Territory and ACT, where Coles already complies with bans on single-use bags.
“We’ve been working towards this announcement for some time now as part of our ongoing program to improve environmental outcomes throughout our business,” said Coles Chief Customer Officer Simon McDowell.
“We know customers like the convenience of single-use bags, so we’ll make sure we have plenty of other options for them if they forget to bring their own bags from home.”
Coles already encourage our customers to use reusable bags when shopping in our stores nationally and will continue to provide a range of reusable bag options at different price points for sale. Our current range is available in all states and starts at 15c per bag.
“We’ve been talking to our customers and exploring options for a sustainable, low-cost solution to help them get their shopping done,” said Coles managing director John Durkan.
“We’ll be making further announcements as we begin implementing our plans.”
As part of our commitment to better environmental outcomes, Coles will also continue to offer recycling bins for soft plastics at 630 of our stores, the largest retailer-operated recycling program of its type in Australia.
For further information, please contact Coles Media Line (03) 9829 5250 or
media.relations@coles.com.au