Coles customers can make a difference on World Environment Day by bringing their old or unwanted reusable shopping bags to any Coles supermarket for recycling as part of a two-week bag drive.
All bags collected between 3–7 June will be recycled in Australia and the material turned into outdoor furniture to be donated to primary schools.
“Many Australian households are now aware of the benefits of taking their own bags with them when they shop, but up until now there has been no way to recycle green bags,” said Coles operations director Stuart Machin.
“Now, we’ve taken the next step to ensure that these shopping bags are recycled into other useful plastic products rather than finding their way into landfill.”
Coles has partnered with the RED Program and Victorian-based recycled product company Replas for the recycling initiative, which will give customers a convenient and environmentally responsible way to dispose of their reusable bags.
Coles will accept any bag made of polypropylene – and any colour – including shopping bags from other retailers and give-away bags from conferences and exhibitions.
At the end of the bag drive, all bags collected will be sent to Replas for recycling and turned into outdoor furniture suitable for schools.
CEO of Keep Australia Beautiful Council (NT), Heimo Schober, said it was great to hear that all bags collected by Coles would be recycled in Australia.
“By recovering the plastic and turning this into outdoor furniture for primary schools, our future generations of youth will see the tangible benefits of recycling first hand.”