Woolworths introduces bread bags containing 30% recycled plastic

Australian supermarket chain Woolworths has transitioned its Own Brand sliced bread range to new bags made with 30% recycled plastic, a move expected to cut around 50 tonnes of virgin plastic use each year.

The low-density polyethylene (LDPE) food-grade packaging, supplied by global manufacturer Amcor, was rolled out in June and is currently used across six bread varieties.

The bags incorporate recycled material produced through advanced recycling processes, contributing to Woolworths’ wider efforts to reduce virgin plastic in its supply chain.

Over the past five years, the retailer has introduced several packaging initiatives aimed at improving recyclability and reducing plastic use. These include kerbside-recyclable paper-based pouches for the Macro brand, paper-based meat trays that use 75% less plastic than conventional versions, recyclable paper packaging for fresh grapes and in-store bakery clamshells and lids made from 80% recycled plastic, which are also recyclable.

Woolworths Head of Packaging sustainability, Bryan McKay, said: We understand our customers want us to remove and reduce plastic and improve recycling opportunities from the products we sell, so we’re firmly focused on innovative ways to improve packaging and offer more sustainable options wherever we can.

Working with Amcor and incorporating recycled content into our bread bags is another significant step towards our goal of reducing virgin plastic and championing a more circular economy.

At the same time, reducing waste across the value chain is a shared challenge. We will continue to innovate with our Own Brand product range in terms of reducing plastics, increasing recycled content and improving recyclability, while strongly advocating for harmonisation of plastics in packaging regulation to progress sustainable packaging outcomes.

As part of an ongoing soft plastics recycling pilot, the new bread bags can be returned for collection at more than 500 Woolworths stores across New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory.