Coles ditches plastic openings on own brand tissue boxes

In an effort to minimise unnecessary plastic packaging, Coles Supermarket has made the decision to eliminate plastic openings from select Coles Brand tissue boxes.

This change is expected to remove a staggering 13 tonnes of plastic from circulation within a year. The affected products include Coles Facial Tissues Aloe Vera (available in 95 packs), Coles Facial Tissues Eucalyptus (available in 95 packs), and Coles Facial Tissues White (available in 224 and 90 packs).

To ensure that the new packaging maintains the high performance standards, the newly designed boxes are constructed using 95% recycled material and have undergone rigorous testing. They now feature a tissue elevator and a smaller opening size, ensuring ease of use for consumers.

Charlotte Rhodes, Coles' General Manager of Own Brand Quality and Responsible Sourcing, emphasised the supermarket's commitment to reducing unnecessary and problematic plastic packaging. Coles is actively working towards its goal of achieving 100% reusable, recyclable, or compostable packaging by 2025.

Charlotte said: Today's announcement that Coles has removed the plastic opening from its key Coles Own Brand Tissue products demonstrates our commitment to reduce unnecessary and problematic plastic packaging in our stores. This small but significant change will remove 13 tonnes of plastic from circulation in one year which is the equivalent of 412,000 plastic bags. Our customers want to see change when it comes to plastic packaging, and this is one way of giving customers a choice to be part of the solution.

In addition to this recent initiative, Coles has taken other significant steps towards minimising plastic waste. Earlier this month, the supermarket announced its decision to discontinue the sale of soft-plastic shopping bags in all stores and online, effectively removing 230 million plastic bags from circulation. While customers are encouraged to bring their own bags, Coles offers a 100% recycled paper bag as an alternative, which can be recycled through kerbside programs.

Further efforts to reduce unnecessary plastic packaging include the removal of plastic measuring scoops from Coles Brand and Coles Ultra laundry powders, resulting in the elimination of 3 tonnes of plastic per year. Additionally, Coles has eliminated 41 tonnes of plastic from its Organic range and replaced plastic bread tags with environmentally friendly cardboard alternatives. This switch has diverted 79 tonnes of polystyrene plastic from ending up in landfills annually.

Coles Supermarket is committed to sustainable packaging practices and actively participates in various initiatives and organisations. The supermarket is a signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant and a member of the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO). Coles also serves as a founding member of the Australian New Zealand and Pacific Islands Plastics Pact (ANZPAC Plastics Pact), collaborating with the government and other major supermarkets to find solutions for soft plastic recycling through the Soft Plastic Taskforce.