New carrier bag launched for taxi commuters: How much you pay for bags at SA supermarkets
|Published
In an effort to make the lives of some consumers easier, supermarket Shoprite has launched a bigger, stronger 60-litre carrier bag primarily for taxi commuters and people who make use of public transport.
Taxi passengers in South Africa are often charged extra for each bag they carry, particularly on busier routes.
A larger carrier bag that can hold more groceries will save them money on every shopping trip.
Shoprite’s new red, 60-litre bags are 60 microns thick and more resilient, cost R4 and are made from the same 100% recycled material as the standard 24-litre carrier bags that are 24 microns thick and cost R1.
The 60-litre bag is also reusable and recyclable, supporting circular economy principles, Shoprite said in a statement.
“The idea came from listening to employees and customers who travel by taxi,” said Sanjeev Raghubir, group sustainability manager.
“It’s also much easier to carry one big bag when walking or using public transport.”
In 2013 the Shoprite Group became the first national retailer to introduce shopping bags made from 100% recycled content in its supermarkets.
The group recycled more than 5 400 tons of plastic in the last year – more than 600kg per hour – through its reverse logistics operations.
To promote a circular economy, the group said it is also working towards ensuring that 100% if its own-brand packaging is reusable, recyclable and compostable, and that it contains on average 30% recycled material content by 2025.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said South Africans used between 30kg and 50kg of plastic per person per year.
Single-use plastics are usually cheap, originally produced to be used just once and is produced in bulk.
Most of the time, the items are discarded without being reused or recycled, with the majority of it ending up in landfills or in the environment.
Pick n Pay
A shopping bag from another major supermarket in South Africa, Pick n Pay sees you paying R1 for their 24-litre blue plastic bag.
Pick n Pay told Business Report the bags are 100% recyclable and are made from 100% recycled plastic waste which helps the company keep more than 3 000 tons of plastic out of the environment every year.
“We also put a lot of emphasis on encouraging customers to use reusable bags instead of buying plastic bags, and we sold over 1.7 million reusable bags last year. This includes introducing unique and creative RPET bags which support various causes alongside the environment, and our popular affordable R6 ‘People n Planet’ bag which is made from green recycled plastic bottles,” Pick n Pay said.
Woolworths
WOOLWORTHS said it removed six metric tons of plastic out of the system through the introduction of reusable shopping bags, during the 2021 annual general meeting.
In 2018 Woolies first announced it was scrapping single-use plastic bags as part of its vision for all packaging to be reusable or recyclable by 2022.
The group introduced the reusable shopping bags retailing for R6.50 each as part of turning the tide against environmental degradation.
Spar
A plastic packet at Spar costs about 69 cents, which is also 100% recyclable, and made from 75% post-consumer waste.
The retailer said that this results in 4000 tons of plastic waste being diverted from landfills per annum.
By using this method of bag production there is a 40% reduction in the carbon footprint, Spar said on their website.
BUSINESS REPORT