Coles bread soon to have New cardboard bread tags, recyclable and made from recycled materials.
In a statement Coles has announced as part of its ambition to be Australia’s most sustainable supermarket, Coles Own Brand is trialling the replacement of plastic bread tags with new cardboard varieties that are made from 100% paper-based recycled content and are recyclable in kerbside recycle bins.
The trial, which commenced in June with a view to roll out in 2022, will apply to 254 varieties of Coles Own Brand bread including both instore baked bread and pre-packaged loaves. Once rolled out nationally, this will result in the diversion of approximately 223 million pieces of plastic or 79 tonnes from landfill each year.
Coles General Manager of Bakery, Deli and Seafood Andy Mossop said the initiative is aligned with Coles’ ambition to Together to zero waste, one of the focus areas of its new sustainability strategy.
“At Coles, we are committed to reducing single-use plastic and we want to ensure wherever possible that we work with our suppliers to make our packaging recyclable and made with recycled content,” Andy said.
“We’re listening to our customers who have told us in a recent survey that reducing waste to landfill and plastic packaging was the number one concern when it comes to environmental issues in retail, with 69% of those surveyed saying it was of high importance to them .
“We are proud that this move towards cardboard bread tags means all components of our Coles Own Brand soft-plastic bread packaging will become recyclable.”
To ensure the cardboard tags are recycled in kerbside recycle bins, customers will need to place the tag securely inside other paper or cardboard products, such as a used envelope or paper bag. This will ensure the small tag doesn’t get lost in the recycling process and end up in landfill.
Coles is working together with its bakery partners, including Goodman Fielder on the plastic bread tag removal initiative.
Mick Anderson, Head of Sustainability for Goodman Fielder said he was proud to work with Coles to reduce plastic.
“Our new cardboard bread tags, which will be used on Coles Own Brand pre-packaged loaves, are durable and have undergone rigorous testing and development. We have used material which is high-quality, ensuring both strength and flexibility to keep bread bags tied, in line with customer expectations.
“We are proud to partner with Coles on reducing the impacts of both plastic and food waste as part of our shared sustainability vision.”
Coles is making progress on reducing unnecessary plastic and waste
In addition to trialling cardboard bread tags, Coles will also be closing the loop on the packaging of some of its most popular instore bakery items by committing to have them made with 100% recycled content in FY22, in addition to already being fully recyclable at kerbside.
The change will apply to 60 million pieces of packaging each year on instore bakery products like cookies, donuts, danishes and muffins. Instead, the packaging will be made from 100% Recycled PET which requires less energy to manufacture per kilogram than virgin PET, further contributing to a decrease in the environmental footprint.
As part of its pledge to make packaging more sustainable, during FY21 Coles has removed 36 million soaker pads from meat trays. This means 36 million soaker pads not being sent to landfill.
Coles Group no longer sells single-use plastic tableware products including cups, plates, bowls, straws and cutlery. And have also committed to no longer promoting plastic toy giveaways.
Not the first to ditch the plastic bread tag
Tasmania bread company Cripps removed the plastic bread tag at the end of 2020.
Tip Top has also ditched plastic bread tags for recycled cardboard.
The iconic bread brand has rolled out 100 per cent recyclable cardboard bag tags across New South Wales and Victoria in the past couple of weeks.
The huge change will remove almost 100million pieces of plastic bread tags from local waste streams over the next 12 months.
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