Major retail groups say their voluntary campaign to reduce the use of plastic shopping bags by a fifth is on target to reach the goal by July.

Three of the country’s largest retail chains – The Warehouse, Progressive Enterprises/Woolworths and Foodstuffs – signed the Packaging Accord in 2004 to reduce the use of plastic shopping bags in a five-year initiative.

Retailers Association CEO John Albertson says: “When we launched Make a Difference in July 2007, we asked people to take one bag less each time they shop…

“Latest research conducted by AC Nielsen into consumer attitudes and behaviour finds that shoppers are now taking on average 5.8 bags down from 6.5 twelve months earlier.”

He says 100 million bags have been taken out of circulation over the four years of the Accord most of which (86 million) has been achieved in the past two years.

The research was conducted at the end of 2008 to monitor how successful the Make a Difference campaign has been in changing consumer behaviour. The research shows:

• 62% of customers said that they had reduced the number of bags they use;

• 76% say supermarkets are doing more than any other retailer to reduce use of bags;

• 57% say they had “just enough” or “not enough” plastic bags to meet their reuse needs (which may be why there has been a 15.4% growth in unit sales of kitchen refuse bags); and

• 48% occasionally or always use “eco bags.”

Mr Albertson says three-quarters of New Zealanders say they do not support a ban on plastic bags but want to be encouraged by retailers not to take bags.

He says other major retailers, such as Mitre 10 and Caltex, have joined the Make a Difference campaign. Others such as Bunnings and Borders are running their own bag reduction campaign.

The Retailers Association opposes a ban or mandatory tax on plastic bags and rejects calls for New Zealand to follow the South Australian government which introduced a Plastic Shopping Bags (Waste Avoidance) Act on the January 1.

“Wherever plastic bags have been banned there have been unintended consequences such as a corresponding increase in heavier gauge plastic bin liners,” Mr Albertson says.

“We are already seeing that happen here as people reduce plastic bag consumption voluntarily. In the past year sales kitchen refuse bags grew at 15.4% in unit sales period compared with average grocery growth of 1.3% indicating more people replacing plastic bags with bin bags in home.”