“In the last year we have seen a shift towards more sustainable attitudes from our customers and the momentum is growing, with recent research showing a 15 per cent increase in Australians now saying that taking care of the planet is important to them,” Woolworths group chief executive Brad Banducci said in a statement.

“While we’ve made progress in reducing the amount of plastic in our stores, supported recycling labelling initiatives, and made improvements in energy efficiency, sustainable sourcing and reducing food waste, we know that more needs to be done to meet our customers’ expectations.

“Today’s initiatives represent further small, but important, steps in our commitment to make positive change happen. We understand the journey towards a more sustainable future has its challenges, but together with our customers and industry partners we are committed to moving our business, our country and our planet towards a greener future.”

This news couldn’t have come at a better time (well, unless we invent time travel) given the recent tragic news that a whale died after swallowing 80 plastic bags, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is now double the size of NSW, and — at our current rate of waste and production — the ocean will contain more plastic than fish (on a weight ratio) by 2050.

The power is yours!