Supermarket giant Countdown will have phased out single use plastic bags to about 85 per cent of its stores by the start of next month, and will include all South Island stores from October 8.

A further 67 stores located throughout New Zealand will be added to the roll-out next month, with 15 Christchurch stores making the move in the same week.

Countdown general manager of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Kiri Hannifin said to have the entire South Island network phase out single-use plastic carrier bags is a massive milestone for the business.

“With our stores using on average around 6000 bags every day, the faster we can make this change, the sooner we can make a difference for the environment,” Hannifin said.

“Since we started phasing out single use plastic carrier bags in May, we’ve already removed 22.5 million bags from circulation.

“The end of single-use plastic bags at our checkouts and online is in sight.”

According to Hannifin, they have already seen a 17 per cent decrease in the amount of plastic bags their customers have used when shopping at their stores.

“Making reusable bags the norm will have long-lasting benefits for New Zealand’s environment,” she said.

“One of the reasons the phase out is going so well is that our customers have really got behind this move and we hope this will continue when these further stores make the change.”

Countdown has announced its commitment to having single-use plastic carrier bags phased out in all of our 180 stores by the end of 2018.