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REPAIR, RESALE and REUSE COUNCIL |
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Supermarkets look at plastic alternative -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Momentum is building to scrap the ubiquitous plastic shopping bag. Progressive Enterprises, which owns Countdown, Foodtown, and Woolworths supermarkets, plans to introduce alternatives to plastic bags -- probably a cloth bag -- next year. The Warehouse is already trialing cloth bags in its Nelson and Thames stores and is now looking at extending their use to other stores. Progressive Enterprises chief operating officer Richard Umbers confirmed it is exploring several options, including cloth bags, a biodegradable plastic bag, and American-style paper bags. It is also looking at introducing charges for plastic bags to discourage their use, in an effort to address mounting environmental concerns about polyethylene bags. Warehouse administration manager Patrick Taunt said the chain was also looking at using bags made from rice paper, and from the new year will use plastic bags made from recycled plastic. The Warehouse has made plastic bags optional in all its stores and encourages customers not to use them. The use of plastic bags had dropped about 20 per cent as a result. New Zealanders use about 800 million plastic bags each year, most of which end up in landfills. In Christchurch, plastics make up about 12 per cent of landfill waste, and Christchurch City Council figures showed plastic waste is increasing -- it jumped from about 18,000 tonnes in 1993 to 27,000 tonnes in 1999. Now, Christchurch women Cath Knight and Annelies Pekelharing are mounting a national campaign to ban plastic bags, which they say clog up the environment and kill marine mammals and fish. The pair hoped to set up a meeting in the new year with supermarket bosses to discuss introducing a 20c deterrent charge on every plastic bag. "In addition to that, we want them to have cloth bags available," Ms Knight said. They have won support from the Christchurch City Council, which will help broker -- and may possibly fund -- a trial of jute bags in a Christchurch supermarket next year. Council staff have also suggested the council encourage supermarkets and retail outlets to introduce biodegradable carry bags. Christchurch City Councillor Sally Buck said the council would "bend over backwards" to work with supermarkets to cut down on plastic bags. "They must realise that people are crying out for this to happen." Green MP Rod Donald, who is working on a private member's bill to introduce a tax on packaging, said any initiative to restrict the use of plastic bags had to be reinforced by the Government with appropriate legislation. "Until the Government resolves to do something, it's going to be a lot harder to get competing supermarket chains to do the right thing. "This is a case for the Government taking the initiative and setting the standard." In Ireland, the Government imposed a 15 euro cent levy on all plastic bags earlier this year. One supermarket chain estimated it will reduce plastic bags use by at least 40 per cent in the first year. The Zero Waste New Zealand Trust, which funded recycling and waste reduction programmes, recently recommended the Government introduce legislation requiring the food packaging industry to use bioplastic materials. YOUR FEEDBACK |