New Zealand is the first country in the world to include the thin plastic bags that are typically used to hold fruits or vegetables in its ban on plastic bags in supermarkets. The decision, which became effective on Saturday, is a part of a larger government initiative to ban single-use plastics.
The ban on take-home plastic bags was implemented in 2019. Now the majority of customers bring their own bags to stores. In recent years, many countries have imposed a fee or ban on plastic bags. “New Zealand produces too much waste, too much plastic waste,” Associate Environment Minister Rachel Brooking said.
She stated that the ban on thicker bags, which took effect in 2019, had resulted in saving more than one billion plastic bags. It is expected that the new measure will prevent the usage of 150 million plastic bags per year. Critics have raised concerns that shoppers may just place groceries in disposable paper bags, which are still available in supermarkets.
“It’s still worth doing this, but we really want to reduce single-use anything packaging,” Ms Brooking said.
“So we want people to be bringing their own bags, and supermarkets are selling reusable produce bags,” she added. Supermarket chain Countdown, which operates more than 185 stores across the country, has started selling reusable polyester mesh bags.
Reusable Bags
The company hopes this will encourage shoppers to use reusable bags for fruits and vegetables. “We know change is hard and (it) will take them a little while,” said Catherine Langabeer, the head of sustainability at Countdown. “We get some grumpy customers.”
The New Zealand government has made progress on other initiatives to tackle climate change. In October, it proposed taxing the greenhouse gases produced by farm animals like sheep and cattle.
The world’s first scheme will see farmers paying for agricultural emissions in some form by 2025. The country’s farming industry accounts for about half of its emissions.
