Woolworths is bringing the Universal Bag, crafted by Anya Hindmarch and produced by the Solent Group, into 600 stores across Australia. This reusable bag, made entirely from recycled plastic and certified under the Global Recycling Scheme (GRS), is made to last up to ten years.
The Universal Bag initiative promotes sustainable, reusable shopping alternatives and has been embraced by retailers worldwide. Woolworths becomes the first Australian supermarket to join the project, offering its customised version of the bag.
Ashley Symonds, CEO of Solent, said, “The Universal Bag encourages customers to buy into reusability and sustainability; it’s not a bag you’d ever feel comfortable throwing in the bin. Given the durability of the bag, ideally, it will never need to be recycled, but if it does, we have made it easy for the customer to get it back into the recycling stream.”
Initially launched in 2021, the Universal Bag has reportedly saved over 230 tonnes of virgin plastic from landfill, equivalent to the weight of 19 London double-decker buses. The Woolworths edition is the 20th in the series, following retailers such as Asda, Co-op, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, and Waitrose in the UK, City'SUPER and Taste in Hong Kong, National Azabu and Meidi-Ya in Japan, and FairPrice in Singapore.
The bags will be sold at $20 each in Woolworths stores.
