Woolworths : continues to grow greener, removing single-use plastic picnicware from stores nationwide

Wednesday, 17 November 2021: Woolworths has removed single-use plastic cutlery, cups, bowls and plates from sale nationwide in a move set to eliminate approximately 2.1 million kilograms of plastic annually.

With around 130,000 tonnes of plastic waste leaking into the marine environment every year in Australia¹, Woolworths has stopped selling these items to help cut plastic waste and litter for a better tomorrow.

Customers can now choose from an extended range of more sustainable picnicware including bowls and plates made from sugarcane pulp, wooden cutlery and a range of paper cups and plates. All paper and wooden products in the range are FSC certified for sustainable forestry.

The range includes more than 50 new products and a number of kids' and party designs to ensure there are more sustainable options available for every occasion.

Woolworths Supermarkets Commercial Director for Everyday Needs, James Hepworth said: "We're committed to growing greener for our customers and their communities by increasing the sustainability of our range.

"Removing single-use plastic cutlery and other picnicware will not only cut plastic in landfill, but is the right thing to do for the health of our oceans and waterways where these items can unfortunately end up.

"Along with this change, we're offering customers an extended picnic range of more sustainable options made from materials like sugarcane pulp, bamboo, wood and paper.

"We thank our customers for their support as together we make this change today, for a better tomorrow."

Woolworths marked the national milestone this week, following the phase down of single-use plastic picnicware in recent months, including the removal of these items from its supermarkets in South Australia, ACT and Queensland between March and September this year.

In addition to single-use plastic picnicware, Woolworths has also removed a number of single-use plastics in recent years, including:

• Cotton tips: Plastic cotton tip stems have been replaced with paper and sugarcane stems across the range, which is expected to save almost 500 million pieces of plastic yearly.
• Straws: In 2018, Woolworths became the first national supermarket to stop selling single-use plastic straws, removing over 330 million straws from circulation since.
• Bags: Single use plastic shopping bags were removed nationwide in 2018, resulting in a reduction of 9 billion bags in circulation since.

Woolworths is working across its entire operations to reduce plastic and increase the sustainability of its products. It has committed to make 100 per cent of its own brand packaging recyclable, compostable or reusable by the end of 2023.

Since 2018, Woolworths has improved the packaging on more than 550 of its own brand and fresh products, removing thousands of tonnes of plastic from circulation through items like milk bottles, meat trays, produce packaging and bakery containers.

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For further information, contact Woolworths Media: 02 8885 1033 or [e-mail]

1 WWF and Boston Consulting Group, Plastics Revolution to reality - A roadmap to halve Australia's single-use plastic litter (2020) page 6