Woolworths makes another huge change to its plastic packaging after it came under fire for replacing its bags with paper ones made in China
- Woolworths is moving to ditch plastic packaging for fruit and vegetables
- The supermarket giant is trialling cardboard boxes for Fresh Food Kids range
- Woolworths said it has saved 237 tonnes of plastic packaging in the last year
- The latest change comes after Woolworths brought back paper shopping bags
- Shoppers were disappointed the 20-cent paper bags were made in China
Woolworths is moving to ditch plastic packaging in favour of cardboard boxes for fruit and vegetables after coming under fire for introducing 20-cent paper bags made in China.
The supermarket giant is trialling the eco-friendly boxes - which bear a resemblance to McDonald's Happy Meal packaging - to wrap up their Fresh Food Kids range of mini apples, pears and bananas.
Woolworths said it has saved 237 tonnes of plastic packaging in the last year by switching to environmentally friendly alternatives.
This includes adhesive tape for bananas, replacing rigid plastic trays with pulp fibre on tomatoes, moving to paper tags on broccolini and reducing plastic film by 30 per cent in weight on carrots and potatoes.
Woolworths are trialling the eco-friendly boxes (right) - which bear a resemblance to McDonald's Happy Meal packaging - to wrap up their Fresh Food Kids range of mini apples, pears and bananas
Woolworths said it has saved 237 tonnes of plastic packaging in the last year by switching to environmentally friendly alternatives (right)
This includes adhesive tape for bananas, replacing rigid plastic trays with pulp fibre on tomatoes, moving to paper tags on broccolini (pictured) and reducing plastic film by 30 per cent in weight on carrots and potatoes
Research conducted by the supermarket chain for World Environment Day found 70 per cent of customers place importance on making sustainable shopping choices, even amid the coronavirus pandemic.
'Something that was very surprising during COVID was the continued relevance of the environment, with 70 per cent of Australians saying that taking care of the planet and making sustainable choices remained important to them, even at the height of the crisis,' Woolworths Group CEO Brad Banducci said.
'This is something that we're equally passionate about and Woolworths remains as committed as ever to creating a greener future.'
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The latest commitment to ditch plastic packaging comes after the supermarket began to offer paper shopping bags, made out of 70 per cent recycled paper, on Wednesday.
More than six billion bags have been taken out of circulation since Woolworths removed single-use plastic bags back in 2018.
But some shoppers were not impressed by the paper bags after it was revealed they were made in China.
The latest environmentally-friendly initiative comes after the supermarket began to offer paper shopping bags (pictured), made out of 70 per cent recycled paper, on Wednesday
Research conducted by the supermarket chain for World Environment Day found 70 per cent of customers place importance on making sustainable shopping choices, even amid the coronavirus pandemic
'Great to see you've moved onto paper bags but they're made from China! How about support our own!' one person wrote online.
'Just found out that the new paper bags that were announced this week, come from China. It would have been nice to have them made in Australia,' wrote another.
'How can we support Australians if large corporations don't give us the option? Very disappointed.'
A third wrote: 'Shame on you Woolworths. Promoting the use of the Paper Bags that are made in China. Surely they should have been manufactured here in Australia.'
Other shoppers didn't have a problem with where the bags were made.
Woolworths has been slammed for bringing back paper bags that are made in China
'So you'll be asking people to throw out and stop using their iPhones when exactly? #AppleMadeInChina,' one wrote.
'I'm not seeing the issue. It's a bag, do you not like the colour?' another commented.
A Woolworths spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that they will look at producing the paper bags locally.
'We've been exploring options to source paper bags locally at the scale we need' the spokesperson said.
'We'll continue to work with local manufacturers to see if we can build the capability to produce paper bags locally.'
Woolworths Supermarkets Managing Director Claire Peters said the reintroduction of the paper bag came after consultation with customers.
'These paper bags resonated really well with customers when we trialled them in 20 stores last year,' she said.
'We expect to see a positive response from the customers who've been asking for this option nationwide.'
Customers have taken to Woolworths' Facebook page expressing their disappointment with the 'Made in China' label
