Countdown has pledged to remove single-use plastic products from its own range by 2025.
The company announced on Monday that Countdown, Fresh Choice and SuperValue will use 100 percent reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging in their own brands by 2025 or earlier.
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They also announced that single-use plastic straws will be removed from 182 stores by October this year.
"We hope by phasing out single-use plastic straws from our 182 store network, we will be removing 11.6 million plastic straws a year from landfill," Countdown's corporate affairs general manager Kiri Hannifin says.
The move comes after the company launched 20 sustainability commitments last year.
"As part of these commitments, we are actively working to reduce the use of plastic across our entire business starting with single-use plastic bags at the checkout," Ms Hannifin says.
Single-use plastic straws are almost "impossible to recycle because of their size and lightness", she says.
"They also hold no value post-use so are not attractive to those companies who are purchasing and re-using used plastic.
"Seeing images of turtles with straws coming out of their nostrils is confronting and although straws account for a small part of marine pollution, they cause significant harm and are mostly unnecessary for beverage consumption."
Newshub.
