Bags Not: Plastic supermarket bags discouraged

The decision of New Zealand supermarket chain Foodstuffs to charge for plastic bags from Monday is a welcome move that deserves Government support, Green Party Co-Leader Russel Norman said today.

“But any mention of supporting moves like Foodstuffs’ was noticeably absent from the Government’s Waste Minimisation in New Zealand discussion document. Brave companies deserve brave Government to back them up.

“Rival supermarket chain Progressives now has a commercial advantage over Foodstuffs, as free shopping bags could be advertised as a drawcard for customers,” Dr Norman said.

“The Government must level the playing field or Foodstuffs' good intentions will be in jeopardy.”

Foodstuffs’ New World and Four Square supermarkets will charge 5 cents per plastic shopping bag from Monday. The Warehouse began charging its customers 10 cents per bag in April.

Dr Norman said the Government has an important role to play in encouraging all retailers to be good corporate citizens by reducing pollution such as excess packaging.

“I would like to see the Government take broader action to reduce unnecessary plastic bag use, particularly to use its powers in the Green Party’s Waste Minimisation Act passed last year to ensure that companies that take the lead are not disadvantaged.

“The Government should back up Foodstuffs’ responsible move by introducing mandatory product stewardship for plastic bags.

“Product stewardship is a system where initiatives like Foodstuffs’ are applied to all retailers to ensure a level playing-field – we don’t want the good guys to be disadvantaged by other companies freeloading or refusing to do something about their bags.”

Voluntary agreements amongst retailers have gone some way towards reducing plastic bag use in New Zealand, with 100 million taken out of circulation since an accord was signed in 2004, but the accord expired in June and the Government won’t renew it.

“With over one billion plastic bags used each year, New Zealand still has a long way to go to reduce their impact on the environment,” Dr Norman said.

Foodstuffs runs New World, Four Square and Pak’n’Save supermarkets, while Progressive runs Woolworths, Foodtown, and Countdown supermarkets.

* GetReal webpage on plastic shopping bags: http://getreal.org.nz/campaign/plastic-bags