Woolworths, Extrupet launches new shopping bags

Extrupet is a leader in the recycling of post-consumer PET bottles recovered from landfill sites. Its state of the art recycling facility employs the latest technology developed and manufactured in Europe.

"The launch of this bag once again demonstrates a tangible success story in introducing a product that is not only environmentally friendly, but also sustainable in that it was manufactured from packaging waste that would otherwise have ended up in a landfill," says Extrupet's chief operating officer Chandru Wadhwani.

Creating an awareness of recycling

Extrupet and Woolworths have taken their partnership further with yet another innovative product that will ensure that customers are made aware of the importance of recycling, by introducing the new Woolworths reusable shopping bags made from 100% rPET.

"Extrupet's relationship with Woolworths was founded on the need to meet an ever growing demand from consumers today to meet a sustainable and environmentally friendly lifestyle," says Wadhwani. The process involves Extrupet supplying rPET to Propet in Cape Town to manufacture the polyester fibre. Propet has been generating 800 tonnes of polyester fibre per month, using mixed PET resin chips made from recycled plastic drink bottles.

Isikhwama produces the bags

This fibre is then sent to Romatex - the largest household textile manufacturers in South Africa - to produce roller fabric, which is then passed on to the Woolworths Flagship Enterprise Development Project, Isikhwama, to produce these newly launched bags. These bags carry a tag detailing the environmentally friendly manufacturing process and encouraging customers to continue recycling. The bags have been on Woolworths' shelves since early January in the green launch colour, which will soon be augmented with the range of colours synonymous with Woolworths.

Shopper project manager for Woolworths, Ralph Jewson, said the project was initiated to reduce the amount of virgin plastic that is consumed and burdening the country's landfill sites, while also being a valuable consumer education tool through the reusable shopper bags."This is a demonstration of our commitment to our Good Business Journey, which envisions the reduction of plastic waste through re-usable recycled content bags," he says.

To date, about 100 000 bags are in circulation, with the final dark blue colour scheduled to hit Woolworths' shelves across the country in late April 2012.