Australia is among places grappling with bans, now a major supermarket chain has drawn fury by indefinitely extending its giveaway of new, reusable plastic bags.
The grocery giant, Coles, is not having a good day. Coles and rival Woolworths dominate Australia’s grocery market. Both recently extended bans on single-use bags, replacing them with reusable bags costing 15 cents (£0.08; $0.11) each.
But it prompted “bag rage” – in one instance, a customer reportedly grabbed a shop assistant by the throat.
Responding to the backlash a month ago, Coles and Woolworths announced they would offer reusable bags for free in brief “transition” periods.
Coles confirmed its second U-turn – the indefinite giveaway – on Wednesday.
“Many customers bringing bags from home are still finding themselves short a bag or two, so we are offering complimentary reusable Better Bags to help them complete their shopping,” it said in a statement. Environment group Greenpeace said Coles had “caved in far too quickly to a small but vocal minority”.
It said the decision would only be bad for the environment – a fear echoed by many on social media.
Source: BBC