It’s been three years since Woolworths announced it would be phasing out plastic bags from its stores in a bid to go plastic-free, and now it’s mulling the next step for its shopping bags.
A Woolworths Food store. Image: EWN
JOHANNESBURG – Retailer Woolworths is trialing an initiative at one of its stores through which shoppers can return its recyclable bags.
It’s been three years since Woolworths announced it would be phasing out plastic bags from its stores in a bid to go plastic-free.
The retailer wants to stop using non-recyclable plastic packaging for its own products, as well as plastic shopping bags, straws, and earbuds by 2022.
As part of this campaign, it introduced reusable shopping bags made from 85% recyclable PET plastic which customers buy for R7 at various stores around the country.
However, GoodThingsGuy Brent Lindeque recently tweeted that the accumulation of the new bags had created a separate problem.
“But while the bags were a good idea to stop the plastic problem they’ve also created another problem, ‘a Woolies bag problem,” said Lindeque.
He suggested the retailer buy back the bags or be able to donate them back to the store.
We are trialing a bag return initiative at one store which we hope to expand soon, but those returned bags will be recycled as opposed to given to other customers (which is tricky in current times).
Woolworths SA (@WOOLWORTHS_SA) August 31, 2021
The retailer responded that it was in fact trialing a bag return initiative at one store which it hoped to expand soon, and whereby those returned bags would be recycled.
While it seems the intention of Woolworths in introducing its recyclable bag was a good one, some social media users have taken to Twitter to bemoan buying a bag at the till when they forget to bring their own.
My wife just unpacked the deposit on a new home pic.twitter.com/ZPziDVCjFw
— Ryan Fernandez (@ryanfern79) August 31, 2021
Those bags are such an inconvenience for me I’m not the one to carry around bags like an old tanie, I have about 88 bags now at home. You guys must just buy them back
— Lorrenzo Mokgosana (@lorrenzom) September 7, 2021
In August Cape Town-based ballet dancer Bhungane Mehlomakhulu went viral on Twitter when he posted pictures of himself wearing a shirt and shorts he had made using Woolworths shopping bags.
Recycled a few of the @WOOLWORTHS_SA bags and constructed a full look ???? pic.twitter.com/NrnkCwyx5h
— IG: BHUMEHLDIARIES (@BHUMEHLDIARIES) August 29, 2021
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