Countdown calls time on plastic bags
Countdown will phase out singleuse plastic bags from its stores and online shopping by the end of 2018.
The move will prevent 350 million plastic bags from entering the environment, Countdown managing director Dave Chambers said.
It will apply to 184 Countdown stores around the country.
SuperValue and FreshChoice supermarkets will also phase out plastic bags, but a date for them has not been set.
From Monday, the price of Countdown’s reusable bags will be reduced from $1.39 to $1.
Chambers said Countdown research showed 83 per cent of customers supported phasing out single-use plastic bags.
Countdown’s Australian owner, Woolworths, announced in July that it would ban single-use plastic bags, while – from next year – charging shoppers 15 cents each for heavier, reusable plastic bags.
Countdown spokesman James Walker said a ‘‘Woolworths-style reusable bag’’ was also an option.
According to a report from the Scottish Government, the process of making paper bags uses four times as much water, and releases more than three times as many greenhouse gas emissions, as the manufacture of plastic bags.
Walker said some SuperValue and FreshChoice stores were independently experimenting with paper bags because customers liked the idea.
But he said the company would be looking at consequences from bag bans overseas before a final decision was made on alternatives.
‘‘For Countdown, paper is not on the table. We think there are better options,’’ he said.
A government levy on plastic bags was backed by more than 90 per cent of New Zealand’s mayors.
Last month, Foodstuffs launched an online campaign to find out what action customers wanted on plastic bags.
Customers could choose to pay five cents per bag, 10 cents per bag, or continue paying nothing.
Voting on the options will be open until midnight on October 8 at www.bagvote.co.nz.