Australia's Coles backtracking on bag ban

Coles says customers are forgetting to bring their reusable bags. Photo / File

Australian supermarket chain Coles has abandoned plans for a plastic-bag ban because shopper kept forgetting to bring their reusable bags.

Coles and rival Woolworths dominate Australia's grocery market. Both chains recently extended bans on single-use bags, replacing them with reusable bags costing A15c (16c) each.

But the move sparked what has been described in the media as "bag rage" — one customer went as far as grabbing a shop assistant by the throat. As a result, both Coles and Woolworths announced a month ago that they would offer reusable bags for free in brief "transition" periods.

But Coles announced yesterday it would offer reusable plastic bags for free indefinitely because customers were finding it too tricky to remember their reusable bags.

Woolworths, however, said its customers had no such issues and that it would stick to its guns on the plastic-bag ban. In a statement sent to news.com.au, a spokeswoman for Woolworths said the majority of the chain's customers had "embraced the move to a more sustainable way of shopping", and thanked shoppers for their patience and support.

"Our focus is on continuing to help all our customers form new and sustainable habits," the statement said, adding that Woolworths would continue to reward customers who brought their own bags.

Both leading supermarkets giants removed single-use plastic bags on July 1 in stores in Victoria, NSW, Queensland and Western Australia following a major backlash, but ended up handing out reusable bags for free.

Yesterday was supposed to be the cut-off date, but Coles confirmed to news.com.au it will continue to offer these bags — which normally cost A15c — for free.

"When Coles phased out single use plastic bags on 1 July in QLD, NSW, Victoria and WA, some customers told us they needed more time to make the transition to reusable bags," a Coles spokesman told news.com.au.

"We've been delighted to see customers grow more accustomed to bringing their reusable bags from home so they are relying less on complimentary bags at the checkout.

"Many customers bringing bags from home are still finding themselves short a bag or two so we are offering complimentary reusable Better Bags to help them complete their shopping.

"Complimentary bags are intended to be an interim measure to help customers make the transition to reusable bags.

"We will continue to listen to our customers and our teams' members on an ongoing basis to assess when customers have become accustomed to bringing their own bags, and will provide them with as much notice as possible."

The backflip prompted rival Woolworths to reaffirm its commitment to banning single-use plastic bags, and another player, Harris Farm Markets, to plead with the NSW state Government to crack down.

"We're really disappointed by the decision from Coles Supermarkets this morning to backflip on their plastic bag ban and give out re-usable plastic bags free of charge indefinitely," co-CEO Angus Harris said.

"We now renew our call to Gladys Berejiklian and the state Government to enforce a ban of single use plastic bags immediately. We also call on the board of Coles to reconsider this decision for the sake of our planet." Environmental groups are furious with the decision.

Speaking to the Herald Sun, director of environmental group Boomerang Alliance Jeff Angel labelled it a "weak act".

"These so-called reusable plastic bags are almost as thin as the banned lightweight ones," he said. "They have a very limited life and the removal of the price signal also means they are more likely to be littered — something we warned about."

Speaking on Today yesterday morning, Georgie Gardner described it as a "PR shamshackled from the start". "It just came out of the blue."

At the end of June, Woolworths announced it would hand out free reusable bags to customers for 10 days, because customers were underestimating the amount of bags they needed to bring. Customers at Woolworths continue to pay A15c per reusable bag.