Retailers under scrutiny as new plastic use laws take effect
Online portal enables customers to dob in retailers giving single-use plastic bags.
The Ministry for the Environment has developed an online complaints portal for consumers to report retailers breaking the law by supplying single-use plastic bags.
From yesterday, retailers must not supply single-use plastic bags. The ban applies to all plastic bags with handles, including thicker boutique-style plastic bags and any that describe being “biodegradable”. It does not include roll plastic produce bags commonly found in supermarkets and greengrocers.
Retailers that still supply the plastic bags face prosecution and subsequently a fine of up to $100,000 under the Waste Minimisation Act.
However, the ministry says it will issue warnings before a financial penalty. Random mystery shopper-style audits will be carried out to catch retailers supplying single-use bags.
Retail NZ general manager of public affairs Greg Harford did not expect retailers to continue to supply the bags from today, though if any did they would likely be smaller independent operators who thought the ban only applied to large chains.
“There’s been a little bit of confusion about the scope of the ban because some businesses have tried
to do the right thing by moving to compostable biodegradable bags but those are also included within the scope of the ban,” Harford said. “There’s still a bit of education to do but most businesses are on track . . .”
He said retailers had been trying to use up their stock of plastic bags in the last six months.
Plastic produce bags were exempt because of food-safety reasons around contamination.
“Customers are increasingly concerned about plastic and they’re going to be pushing back pretty hard on anyone who is actively flouting the ban. Customer pressure will make sure retailers are following the law well ahead of any regulatory action.”
The Ministry for the Environment will police the ban on a warning-based system before penalties are imposed. It will also conduct random audits and has set up a portal that will allow consumers to report retailers who still supply the bags.
“We will contact businesses we confirm as not complying, and we will work with them to figure out why they haven't stopped giving out single-use plastic bags,” a spokesman for the Ministry for the Environment said. “The Government does not have prosecution targets or a goal to prosecute retailers. Our priority is to obtain compliance, and that’s why businesses were given six months to phase out the bags.”
A financial penalty would be imposed in court if a business continued to fail to comply, though the ministry hoped it wouldn’t be necessary: “Prosecutions are costly and time-consuming for both parties . . .”
Last December the Government said single-use plastic bags would be banned.
Retailers have been supportive of the plans to ban plastic.
Supermarket giants Woolworths NZ and Foodstuffs which operate Countdown, New World, Pak’nSave, Four Square, and Gilmours stores, led the way with the single-use plastic bag phase-out, with self-imposed deadlines to no longer offer plastic bags from the start of the year.
Woolworths NZ and Foodstuffs have also signed the New Zealand Plastic Packaging Declaration along with 10 other companies to commit to move to 100 per cent re-usable or compostable packaging by 2025.
Countdown said it had removed 1889 tonnes of plastic from circulation in New Zealand since May last year — equivalent to eight fully loaded jumbo jets.
Kiri Hannifin, general manager of corporate affairs, safety and sustainability at Countdown, said its strategy had diverted 278 million single-use plastic bags from landfill.
She said 90 per cent of Countdown customers now brought in their own bags or used no bags when they shopped. This number had increased month-on-month since Countdown began phasing out single-use plastic carrier bags in May last year.
Harford said retailers were now beginning to look at how they could reduce plastic packaging from their stores. But he said New Zealand lacked the infrastructure to be able to recycle soft plastics, which made it a challenge.
Customer pressure will make sure retailers are following the law. Greg Harford