Image: Coles
From tomorrow the aisles of more than 2,500 Coles Supermarkets, Express and Liquor stores around the country will be transformed, with single-use plastic tableware gone from shelves.
The move will divert 1.5 million kilograms worth of single-use plastic from landfill each year.
The removal of single-use plastic tableware comes as Coles Group today released its Coles’ Sustainability Strategy setting out its plans to work with customers, suppliers, team members and the community to achieve its ambitions centred around the company’s two pillars of ‘Together to Zero’ and ‘Better Together.
Together to Zero was first unveiled in March this year, when Coles announced emissions targets including a commitment to be 100% powered by renewable electricity by the end of FY25 and addresses Coles Group’s ambition to reduce its impact on the environment, outlining its aspiration towards zero emissions, zero waste and zero hunger.
The move comes after an initial announcement from Coles Group in February, announcing that the stores were committed to no longer selling single-use plastic tableware including cups, plates, bowls, straws and cutlery in any of its stores from 1 July.
The items have now been replaced with a wide range of alternatives including timber cutlery and paper plates that have bee approved by the Forest Stewardship Council.
The Federal Minister for the Environment, the Hon Sussan Ley MP, congratulated Coles on delivering its sustainability strategy.
“We welcome Coles’ leadership in providing their customers alternatives to single use plastic tableware products, which will result in an annual diversion of 1.5 million kilograms of single use plastic from landfill”.
Pip Kiernan, Chairman of Clean Up Australia said the organisation knows this is the change the community wants to see.
“Earlier this year we surveyed 9,000 of our Clean Up Australia volunteers and 95% of them were strongly supportive of the phasing out of problematic single use plastics. It’s heartening to see Coles making impactful changes to reduce waste to landfill and providing customers with options that are kinder on the planet,” she said.
“These items are not recyclable, they are designed to be used once and discarded, going to landfill and many ending up in our environment as litter. Last year our volunteers reported that over half of all items they collected were plastic or contained plastic,” she said.
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