Woolworths shoppers to be hit with a $3.50 charge when the supermarket giant bans plastic bags on July 1 – and you'll pay more if you order groceries online

JOY JOSHI
14 June 2018
DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

Online grocery shoppers will be charged hefty costs for using plastic carry bags

Woolies will charge up to $3.50 for groceries being home-delivered in a crate

Customers can avoid extra costs by having goods delivered in reusable bags

Major supermarkets plan to rid all stores of disposable plastic bags by July 1

Online grocery shoppers at Woolworths are set to be charged up to $3.50 for deliveries when the plastic bag ban comes in on July 1.

The supermarket will introduce the charges from next Wednesday when the outlaw comes into effect.

 Customers who arrive in store without bags will be charged extra at the checkout while those buying through their website will be slugged even more.

Woolworths say online shoppers who opt to have their food delivered in a crate will be charged an extra $3.50 while those using reusable bags will be charged $1 more.   

A Woolworths spokesman told Daily Mail Australia, the cost for ‘crate to bench option reflects the additional costs of providing this new service.’

He said: ‘With the new crate to bench service, orders are packed directly into our delivery crates, and then unpacked on to a customer’s bench by a delivery driver when they arrive.’

For customers in-store, Woolworths has made reusable bags available for 15 cents or foldable bags for 99 cents.

Previously, shoppers had their deliveries arrive in free single-use plastic bags but the new costs come into effect following Woolworths’ recent move to dump the use of plastic bags in order to ‘make a positive impact on the environment.’

Woolworths and rival Coles last year joined the push to rid Australia of disposable plastic bags, from all stores nationally by July 1.

‘Coles online’s new bagless delivery option, which uses reusable crates will not incur any additional charge to Coles customers outside of the current delivery fee,’ Coles’ Online General Manager Karen Donaldson said.

‘Groceries will be unpacked in the customer’s home and crates will return with the delivery driver.’

Tasmania, South Australia, Canberra and the Northern Territory are already subject to state-imposed bans on single-use plastic bags. The new move requires all woolies stores in Victoria, NSW, QLD and WA to fall in line with other locations.