Woolworths spells out why it is taking a phasing-out approach to plastic problem

Humans produce nearly 300-million tonnes of plastic every year, more than 8-million tonnes of which finds its way into the world’s oceans, according to the Plastic Oceans Foundation.

The UN has worked out that if production and population rates continue as is, another 33-billion tonnes of plastic will have piled up on the planet by 2050, a horrifying statistic.

Cynics would say it’s a clever way to capitalise on a mounting environmental crisis, announced as it was on World Environment Day this week. But Woolworths plans to have none of its packaging end up in landfills by 2022.

Given the extent of the plastic problem, Business Day asked group head of sustainability Feroz Koor why take the “phasing-out” approach?

We want to ensure that we do it correctly. If we have something that needs to be replaced (let’s assume it is plastic straws by paper straws) it’s easier to do a hard switchover once we find the right supplier and can secure supplies. In the case of carrier bags, that’s phased out because we’ve done customer research.

They understand it’s the right way to go, but there’s a reticence for it to happen immediately because of how we are used to the way of shopping. What we’ll do is make it easier to get used to

this changeover because at a certain point in time there will be no bags. We’ve set the date: 2020. The behaviour change needs to happen. We need to get customers comfortable and introduce them to alternatives.

The price point (of existing reusable bags) is quite high so we’re working on introducing lower-cost reusable bags.

Bags are one thing, what about plastic packaging? Woolworths seems to have loads of plastic in its products, yet you say you’ve cut packaging by almost 700 tonnes to date?

These things are very lightweight, so you can exchange the entire range of something and it might work out to two tonnes, or not even. Let’s be clear: we’re not saying we’re not going to have plastic in our business. What we are saying is we want to get rid of problematic singleuse plastic. The 2022 commitment is to ensure that everything we use is recyclable. Is the ideal of a plastic-free packaging world possible?

There’s always going to be some degree of packaging,

especially in the food space, because packaging has so many roles, be it safety or to preserve food security or for transport.

The issue is: is it appropriate packaging for the product, and are we using the right amount? We’re not blind to it and there are a number of items that may be over-packaged.

Who has the power and the responsibility for doing away with unnecessary packaging? Retailers? Or groups like Unilever?

It’s all of us and all of us working with the packaging industry and recycling industry. It’s a massive value chain and our target is for our own packaging. But the companies you’ve mentioned are coming up with similar targets because it’s a global problem.

Ultimately when we say we want all our packing to be recyclable, it’s our choice. But that doesn’t guarantee it’s going to be recycled. There’s an entire industry of recyclers out there and we have to work with them to ensure they up their capacity. Do you think SA is missing a trick in recycling waste?

Absolutely. There’s space for more capacity. We’ve got really big players and really good ones as well. With PET plastic, glass and aluminium cans we have some of the highest rates (of recycling) in the world. Interestingly, that’s because of the waste pickers we have in SA.

But on the formal side there’s

a huge opportunity and that’s where the challenge lies. A lot of things aren’t recycled because the recyclers are not seeing the commercial value in it. How would you change that?

It’s us working with industry. A recent example would be the polystyrene trays that you get in products, which are recyclable but not often recycled because they’re very lightweight. If you want to collect 100kg or 200kg you need to have a big truck, so the economics don’t make sense. We’re talking to them about finding ways of perhaps compacting on collection so that 500kg will sit in a bag instead of a truck. But that requires investment in equipment. It’s also about talking with government on what its plans are. What percentage of your packaging is recyclable now?

Approximately 85% of our packaging is recyclable at the moment. The problem is the 15% and even for that 15% 2022 is an aggressive target because these are polymers which globally are a problem.

Does this come at a cost to Woolworths? Or is it a cost you cannot not bear?

There is a bit of both. We must do this because it’s the right thing to do and ultimately it fits into our approach.

But it doesn’t come easily. However, it’s something we must do if we want to be a responsible business.