Countdown will no longer import over 177 tonnes of plastic with the supermarket chain transitioning packaging for dozens of its bakery and delicatessen items to locally sourced recycled material.
Wellington-based company Flight Plastics Ltd, will provide Countdown with 19 recycled PET (rPET) packaging products that will begin to appear in stores from August, the supermarket chain announced today.
Countdown’s General Manager Corporate Affairs, Kiri Hannifin, said the company was looking for all opportunities to protect New Zealand's environment.
"Flight Plastics have invested significant time, energy and resource into producing innovative packaging solutions that are better for our environment. We are proud to be working with them and using their products in our stores."
Ms Hannifin said Countdown was exploring options to reduce unnecessary packaging while continuing to meet food safety standards.
"New Zealand's waste management infrastructure is under pressure, with recycling being stockpiled and limited onshore solutions. Countdown's starting point is to, wherever we can, reduce unnecessary packaging, particularly single use packaging."
"However where we do need it, for example to meet food safety standards, we need to be a lot more purposeful and thoughtful in what we use. There may be different solutions going forward but at the moment using New Zealand sourced rPET is a great option for us."
"Flight Plastics source their plastic from the New Zealand waste stream. This means we not only avoid new plastic coming into New Zealand but we can help take pressure off the waste stream and avoid plastic ending up in the landfill."
Keith Smith, CEO of Flight Plastics, said the new packaging products could be recycled repeatedly.
"These products made at Flight Plastics won’t need disposal after use – they can be recycled again and again as customers return them via their recycle bin."
It is the latest move by a big supermarket chain on the use of plastic shopping bags.
The new packaging products will start appearing in Countdown stores in August as the company strives to deliver the goal of 100% reusable, recyclable, and compostable packaging by 2025.
Last month, Countdown began phasing out plastic bags at 10 supermarkets after pledging to phase out single-use plastic bags by the end of 2018 in October last year.
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