The Coles has pledged to reduce food waste, landfills and plastic packaging over the next four years, one of which is to remove plastic packaging for bananas and other fresh products.
On Monday, the supermarket announced a "unprecedented" 10 packaging and recycling commitments, saying it would introduce new measures, such as double plastic packaging for fruits and packaging of bunched vegetables such as kale and kale pickle (silver beet).
Now, more and more people are calling for Coles,Woolworths and Aldi to reduce over-packaging. Photos of packaged bananas, sweet potatoes and cucumbers have sparked outrage on social media in recent months and have been denounced by environmental groups.
"We understand that 69 percent of customers say we need to reduce food waste and landfill through recyclable packaging and look for other uses of waste," Coles General Manager John Durkan said in a statement.
Coles also promised to halve food waste in supermarkets by 2020, with all Coles-branded products in recyclable packaging, five years ahead of the federal government schedule.
By 2020, 90 percent of supermarket waste, including food, cardboard and plastic, will be recycled and excess food equivalent to 100 million meals will be donated to those in need, Coles said.
"We are pleased that our own brand of bottled water is 100 percent recyclable, made of 100 percent recyclable material and the only one in Australian supermarkets," Durkan said.
"now we are the first major food retailer in Australia to announce recyclable packaging of all privately branded products by 2020, a goal five years earlier than the federal government planned for 2025."
"by the end of this year, each of our Coles supermarkets will be involved in an important food aid program, SecondBite, which means that every Coles supermarket will have excess edible food distributed to those in need. By adding an additional 130 supermarkets to SecondBite, this year, more food waste will not be transported to landfills. "
"by 2020, we hope to provide the equivalent of 100 million meals for Australians in need. Since 2011, we have donated about 72 million tons of rice to SecondBite and Foodbank, so we will also donate 28 million tons. Coles has also pledged to label all Coles branded products as recycling information. To let customers know how to handle and where to dispose of their garbage. "
Other commitments made by the Coles include replacing the existing packaging of meat and poultry products with packaging made of recycled and renewable materials and replacing the existing disposable packaging for fresh produce with bags containing 30% recyclable ingredients.