- Plastic pollution is an environmental crisis, polluting our oceans and waterways, killing marine life and even impacting human health
- Supermarkets do not reveal how much plastic packaging they generate, making it impossible to see if their efforts to cut plastic are reducing their overall plastic use
- Loose fruit and vegetables are more expensive than plastic-wrapped produce most of the time - loose potatoes cost 53% more than bagged potatoes. Buying loose produce costs average family $155 more a year - almost the cost of an average shop
- In the second supermarkets plastics audit, Woolworths jumped to top place with 38% (up from 10% in 2023), while Aldi plummeted from top to bottom spot after failing to release any data
Australian supermarkets are not doing nearly enough to address the plastic pollution crisis, according to the second review of supermarkets' plastic use released today by the Australian Marine Conservation Society and the Boomerang Alliance, which represents 55 conservation groups.
The report, Unwrapped 2024: Plastic use in Australian Supermarkets, found that there are perverse incentives for consumers to take home more plastic by charging more for loose fruit and vegetables compared with plastic-wrapped produce 73% of the time. For example, loose potatoes were 53% more expensive than bagged potatoes per kilogram. Buying unwrapped produce is costing the average family $155 more a year - almost the cost of an average shop.
Woolworths ranked first in the 2024 audit with an overall score of 38%, a marked improvement from its 2023 score of 10%. Metcash has also improved significantly, taking second spot with 23% after receiving 3% last year. Coles was third with 20% (15% in 2023), while Aldi plummeted from top spot in 2023 (with 20%) to last place in 2024 due to a lack of data and delayed reporting. Transparency is a critical area assessed in the audit.
AMCS Plastics Campaign Manager Cip Hamilton said: "Plastic pollution is an environmental crisis, polluting our oceans and waterways, killing marine life and even impacting human health. Recent research shows that as plastic production increases, so does plastic pollution. Recycling just can't keep up with the amount of plastic waste we produce. We need to cut our plastic use, but the supermarkets are not giving us a fair option to do that.
"Supermarkets are a big contributor to the plastic problem, but they are not doing enough to cut plastic packaging and achieve the national packaging reductions targets they have supported.
Boomerang spokesperson Jeff Angel said: "We are launching the audit at Manly Cove in Sydney Harbour because it is one of Australia's worst hotspots for microplastics caused by our excessive and irresponsible use of disposable plastics. This is a crisis confronting us right now. Our organisations have urged the Commonwealth to step in and introduce a stewardship scheme for packaging. This should include mandated targets to reduce, reuse, recycle and increase recycled content of packaging."
Ms Hamilton said: "The audit found that overall supermarket performance has improved since our first audit in 2023, but transparency is still a major issue. None of the supermarkets audited disclose how much plastic packaging they use in total, even in their own-brand products, but they do highlight minor efforts to reduce plastic packaging on items, such as the replacement of plastic bread tags with cardboard. This makes it impossible to determine if these efforts to cut plastic on items are reducing their overall plastic packaging footprint.
"What is really disappointing is that Woolworths, Coles and Aldi are charging more for loose fruit and vegetables than plastic-wrapped produce more than 70% of the time, and sometimes the price difference is startling. Loose potatoes cost on average 53% more than bagged potatoes per kilogram.
"In the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, shoppers should not be penalised for buying in smaller quantities and avoiding plastic and trying to reduce food waste, which is a major problem in Australia. It's costing the average family $155 more a year just to buy loose potatoes, onions and apples - that's almost the cost of a weekly shop."
In Australia we waste 7.6 million tonnes of food each year - or 312kg per person - and 70% of this food is edible. OzHarverst, Woolworths' food rescue charity, encourages consumers to buy loose fruit and vegetables to avoid food waste, while supermarkets' pricing discourages it. Plastic packaging does not improve shelf life either, with a UK report by charity Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) found that plastic wrapping had "no or little meaningful effect on extending the life of fresh produce".
Plastic accounted for more than 80% of the litter collected by Clean Up Australia volunteers in 2023. Much of which was plastic packaging from products found on supermarket shelves. Australia's $131.7 billion supermarket industry is dominated by four main players, which are well placed to make substantial reductions to Australia's plastic packaging footprint.
The packaging industry acknowledges the problem and has set voluntary targets to cut plastic use, but we are not even remotely close to hitting the 2025 targets. Supermarkets have supported the 2025 National Packaging Targets, which include recovering 70% of plastic packaging by 2025 for recycling or composting, yet we were only recovering 20% by 2022.
Mr Angel said: "We are addressing the plastic crisis completely in the wrong way. Instead of concentrating on cutting plastic use, there is a focus on increasing recycling and composting capabilities, which are just not keeping up with the mountains of plastic waste we produce.
"There has been such a shocking lack of action by businesses that the Australian Government has begun listening to the community to regulate packaging and make businesses accountable for their plastic packaging. The results of the 2024 audit should hasten promised action to regulate plastic producers at the Australian environment ministers' meeting in December leading to real reductions in plastic packaging, more recycled content and reuse options. Next week governments from across the globe will meet in South Korea to try to negotiate a global treaty to limit plastic production, but face stiff opposition from big oil and plastic producing nations."
The report, summary paper, images and video can be downloaded from Hightail.
