Coles gets rid of plastic openings in its tissue boxes

Coles has removed plastic openings from some of its homebrand tissue boxes in a move it says will take an estimated 13 tonnes of plastic out of circulation each year.

The supermarket giant announced it has redesigned some of its Coles brand tissue boxes so they no longer include "problematic plastic packaging".

Instead the products will be produced from 95 per cent recycled material.

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The change will also allow the cardboard tissue boxes to be placed directly into paper recycling bins without having to remove the plastic material.

Coles General Manager of Own Brand Quality and Responsible Sourcing, Charlotte Rhodes, said the change was part of Coles' aim to have 100 per cent reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging by 2025.

"This small but significant change will remove 13 tonnes of plastic from circulation in one year which is the equivalent of 412,000 plastic bags," she said.

"Our customers want to see change when it comes to plastic packaging, and this is one way of giving customers a choice to be part of the solution," Charlotte added.

Earlier this month, Coles announced it will stop selling soft-plastic shopping bags by July.

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Woolworths has already phased out its 15c soft-plastic shopping bags in the ACT, Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia.

The bags will also be removed from stores in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania by June 1.

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