New clear lids will soon be rolling out on Woolworths own brand milk, as it makes the switch from coloured lids to make recycling easier.
In a first for a supermarket-brand milk in Australia, the new clear lids have already started popping up in selected Victorian, NSW and Queensland Woolworths stores this week for an initial trial and are then expected to roll out across all stores by early next year.
The change will mean the lids, which are currently dark blue or light blue, can be recycled into a greater variety of new products – unlike coloured plastic which has fewer uses when recycled. The supermarket anticipates up to 290,000kg of plastic from millions of milk bottles will now be more effectively recycled each year.
Coloured plastic currently needs to be separated from clear plastic during recycling. While coloured plastic can presently be recycled, the coloured pigment makes it less versatile as it can only be recycled into dark coloured plastic. Clear plastic leads to better quality recycling and allows the lids to be turned back into clear or coloured plastic, which means it could potentially be used to make a new milk bottle.
Woolworths Dairy Merchandise Manager, Will Herron said, “We’re pleased to be the first Australian supermarket to start the switch for our own brand milk to help our customers’ good recycling habits go further.
He added that its important for customers to be aware of why the colour of the lids is changing.
“This small change will lead to better recycling for millions of milk bottles once it rolls out across our range.
“We also want to take this opportunity to remind our customers to reattach their milk lids when the bottle goes into the recycling bin to ensure it gets properly recycled into a new product.”
Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) CEO, Chis Foley commented, “Small changes like this stack up to help recycled material go into a greater variety of new products, and we hope to see more companies follow this move.
“Customers should always look for the Australasian Recycling Label logo on their Woolworths brand milk and other supermarket products for easy-to-follow instructions to ensure their packaging ends up in the right place.”
The supermarket also says that transparent lids will soon feature on its own brand cream and bottled water. The change has already taken place across Woolworths’ yoghurt pouches.
This change is just one in a series Woolworths is making behind the scenes which may be imperceptible to customers but stacks up to make grocery shopping more sustainable. The retail giant points out other initiatives which include:
- Lighter packaging: Woolworths’ Australian spring water 600ml bottle has recently been redesigned to be almost 10 per cent lighter – saving more than 270 tonnes of plastic annually.
- Made from recycled materials: The same Woolworths water bottles are already made from 100 per cent recycled plastic. Woolworths is increasing its use of recycled plastic in own brand packaging, channelling around 9,000 tonnes of recycled plastic per annum into its products to reduce the creation of new plastic. These products include meat trays and bakery trays, which are now made out of more than 80 per cent recycled plastic.
- Easier to recycle: 85 per cent of Woolworths’ own brand packaging can now be recycled conveniently at home.
