Pick n Pay to cut plastic use to support oceans
SOUTH African retailer Pick n Pay says it is introducing new initiatives to reduce plastic waste, including the use of 100 percent recyclable plastic bags from August and a broader range of reusable bags. The company will also phase out plastic straws in favour of paper ones, as part of its efforts to help minimise the environmental damage caused by the use of plastic, particularly on the world’s oceans.
Experts say at current rates of pollution, by 2050 there will likely be more plastic in the sea than fish.
Since 2003, Pick n Pay has promoted the sale of reusable bags as a substitute for plastic bags and last year sold more than a million reusable bags, with R1 from the sale of each bag being donated to a community-based programme.
The Township Group, a female-owned co-operative operating in the Western Cape province that employs more than 70 women, has supplied Pick n Pay since 2009 with more than 600 000 reusable bags.