Bin liner dilemma
Bin liners are the crunch point when it comes to turning off plastic. But there are still plenty of plastic options out there, writes Ewan Sargent.
Plastic bin liner sales are likely to be rising as Kiwis turn to alternatives to free plastic shopping bags for home rubbish bins.
In an ironic twist, many families are finding they have swapped free plastic shopping bags, which had a double use as a shopping and rubbish bag, for bought plastic rubbish bin liners that are used only once.
Foodstuffs (Pak ’n Save, New World, Four Square) would not comment when asked if bin liner sales were up.
Countdown says they are higher but won’t give details because that is commercially sensitive information.
Plastic wrap company Glad NZ sells a variety of bin liner products in supermarkets, including a range of kitchen tidy and bathroom tidy bags in different sizes with drawstring tops.
Some are even scented. The company was asked whether its sales were rising, or if it expected them to rise, but would also not comment.
But it’s almost certain that bin liner sales are on the rise given the experience of other countries where single-use shopping bags have been banned.
When Australian Capital Territories banned single-use plastic bags in November 2011, experts predicted bin liner sales would jump a staggering 70 per cent.
Instead, average monthly bin liner sales increased by 31 per cent. It was thought some people had stockpiled free shopping bags and so bin liner sales were artificially low.
But, encouragingly for the anti-plastics movement, two years later a review found that bin liner sales had fallen to preban levels as people adapted to reusing bags.
A plastics industry businessman, who didn’t want to be named because he said he feared a backlash from antiplastics campaigners, claims the plastic bag ban is a financial windfall for supermarkets.
He said bin liner sales had risen sharply.
‘‘We don’t supply them, but I am in the industry and that’s why I know those sales have gone up by a considerable amount.’’
He said the cost of providing free plastic bags was substantial for those that did (although Pak ’n Save has charged for years).
The businessman said bin liner sales would increase because it was unrealistic to think that shoppers would wash bins out or line with newspaper instead of using plastic bags.
‘‘We all know not everyone’s going to do that. They will just buy bin liners, so sales of bin liners have gone through the roof.
‘‘It looks like a win for them [the supermarkets] because they are doing the eco thing, and it’s a win for the Government because they have made this huge change.’’
But Countdown corporate affairs general manager
Kiri Hannifin says phasing out single-use plastic bags is not financially driven.
‘‘It was in response to both Countdown’s commitment to reduce our environmental footprint and customer support. We had been talking to our customers for a couple of years about the issue and by the time we made the decision we had overwhelming support.’’
Hannifin says Countdown wants shoppers to bring bags rather than sell them bags.
And the company has worked hard to promote alternatives to using bin liners at all, including posting videos on how to make bin liners out of newspaper.
If shoppers forget to bring a bag then they can buy a 15c Good to Go bag at the counter up until the July 1 date when the official Government ban rules out any single bag sales.
Hannifin says any profit from the 15c bag will go to charity.
The longer-term option will be Countdown’s $1 black Bag for Good, which will be replaced for free when it wears out.
‘‘As you’ll appreciate, this is not an offer designed to make us money,’’ Hannifin says.
‘‘We wanted to reduce our environmental footprint and our customers wanted us to do it so that’s why we did it. Hand on heart, it isn’t about the money. It’s actually been really expensive to do.’’