Coles has opened a new in-store refill station in a Sydney store, which features bottles made from recycled and sugarcane plastic, to help minimise packaging waste.
Coles Local Chatswood will have a range of refillable ecostore shampoos, conditioners, body washes and laundry liquids available through the service.
“Coles Local Chatswood is a brand-new neighbourhood supermarket destination with new products sourced from 35 small Sydney suppliers, and innovative features that customers may not have seen before,” said Coles chief sustainability, property and export officer Thinus Keevé.
“As we make progress on our mission to be Australia’s most sustainable supermarket, we’re increasingly looking at new and inventive ways to reduce packaging on certain products.
“This new ecostore station is a first for an Australian supermarket, which we hope will resonate well with customers.”
Pablo Kraus, ecostore managing director, said as customers have been bringing in reusable supermarket bags, now they can bring in reusable ecostore refill bottles as well.
“After successfully launching over 80 refill stations across New Zealand, we are thrilled to bring the first in-supermarket ecostore Refill Station trial for home and personal care products to Australian customers, at the new Coles Local Chatswood store,” said Kraus.
To use the station, customers can choose a small or large ecostore refill bottle and select the product with its matching sticker, filling the bottle by positioning it under the tap or pump until filled to the top. It can then be purchased by taking the bottle to the checkout.
Coles Local Chatswood also uses trolleys made from recyclable plastic milk bottles and REDcycle plastics, as well as offering free recycled carry boxes in place of bags, making organic composting from unsold food that cannot be donated to food charities, and green energy generation for the store.
