Lauren Said-Moorhouse | Chief Editor

Sydney shoppers named worst plastic bag offenders

Sydney supermarket shoppers are the worst for plastic bag usage, according to an investigation undertaken by the University of Technology Sydney (UTS).

Over 4000 Sydney shoppers were surveyed in March by UTS journalism students who found that 79 per cent of shoppers take new plastic bags.

Sydney topped the international survey at 2.5 new plastic bags per person. In comparison, surveys of over 7000 shoppers across three continents were found to be significantly less.

Melbourne reported a plastic bag usage of 1.95, with London at 1.79 and the lowest figures in Hong Kong at 0.98 new plastic bags per customer.

Back in Australia, the results showed that shoppers at the two supermarket giants, Woolworths and Coles, which hold almost 60 per cent of the supermarket retail market, use more plastic bags than their rival Aldi.

While Woolworths have a policy of not offering shoppers with two items or less a plastic bag, Coles have no clear policy. Cashiers at both supermarkets were observed offering plastic bags to customers with two or less items. Of the Coles customers surveyed, the investigation found shoppers averaged 2.5 new plastic bags per person whilst Woolworths customers averaged 2.37.

In contrast, surveys conducted at German owned supermarket chain Aldi, which charges for plastic bags, found significantly reduced figures of plastic bag usage at 0.59.

Shushu He, an international student at UTS writing on the GEJI project website said, “The survey showed that on a widespread basis, Woolworths are failing to implement their official policy of not offering plastic bags to customers who purchase very few items. Direct observations of hundreds of cashiers at supermarkets across Sydney and Melbourne revealed that many checkout cashiers ignore or are not aware of the policy. Coles, who do not have a firm policy on this issue but leave it to the discretion of cashiers and shoppers, also regularly offer plastic bags to shoppers with one or two items.”

While Project Plastic Bags was spearheaded in Australia by the UTS journalism department, it was the first collaborative project completed by the Global Environmental Initiative (GEJI). Established in late 2008, GEJI is a partnership of four Australian and five European universities that are leaders in journalism education in their respective countries. A core part of the GEJI project is student exchanges, funded by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations and the European Commission

Read the full project reports here or to learn more about the GEJI project and UTS Journalism.

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