Supermarket giant Coles has put a deadline on its decision to hand out free plastic bags after yesterday saying shoppers "need more time to make the transition to reusable bags".

Key points: Most state governments in Australia have banned thin single-use bags or have plans to ban them

Most state governments in Australia have banned thin single-use bags or have plans to ban them Coles had pledged to phase them out from July 1

Coles had pledged to phase them out from July 1 Coles said it would now hand out reusable bags until August 29 because the transition had been difficult for customers

On Wednesday, Coles said it would continue handing out thicker reusable plastic bags for free — which had previously been sold for 15 cents each — as customers make the transition from single-use plastic bags to reusable bags.

That handout will now end on August 29.

Most state governments in Australia have banned thin single-use bags or have plans to ban them, and the supermarket giant had pledged to phase them out from July 1.

In a statement, Coles managing director John Durkan said the transition had been difficult for customers.

"… we know that many customers are still finding themselves a bag or two short at the register and we want to do the right thing by them during this transition period. Putting our customers first is in our DNA and we must always be empathetic and responsive to their needs," he said. "That's why we are extending our complimentary bag offer until Wednesday 29 August for our customers in QLD, NSW, VIC and WA. I appreciate this transition phase is taking longer than anticipated but it is absolutely the right thing to do by our customers."

Federal Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg said the supermarket was still committed to phasing out plastic bags.

"Coles has made a decision after consulting with their customers, but Coles is committed to phasing out the single-use plastic bag, and Australia produces and has been selling billions of these single-use plastic bags, and they do go into the environment and they do create a problem," he said.

"So we welcome the decision by Coles, by Woolworths, which follows Aldi by the way who had made this decision some time ago, to phase out single-use plastic bags."

Coles's backdown infuriated environmental lobby group Greenpeace, which said the supermarket's decision was bad for the planet.

"Coles have caved in far too quickly to a small but vocal minority and there is absolutely no doubt Coles will be punished for this decision by customers who don't want to see plastic bags littering their beaches and killing marine life," Australia Pacific campaigner Zoe Deans said.

Single-use plastic bags take years to break down, and many end up in the environment polluting oceans, rivers and beaches.

However, if reusable plastic bags reach the oceans and other habitats, they could cause as much if not more damage than single-use bags currently do.

The peak Australian body for waste also warned that Coles's decision would create major confusion for consumers.

"It's just messy," Waste Management Association of Australia chief executive Gayle Sloan said.

"The key for us, where we produce 64 million tonnes of waste annually, is to work out ways to avoid the creation of waste and this kind of flip-flopping gets really confusing for the public and it gets really confusing for industry."

'A missed opportunity

Coles's reversal is "a shame" and "a missed opportunity" to help people break the plastic bag habit, according to Lucy Siegle, author of the book Turning the Tide on Plastics.

"Part of the carrot-and-stick approach is that, as a consumer, you can avoid paying for the plastic bag by using the reusable option, which is a brilliant behavioural change," she told Radio National's Breakfast program.

"And if you just make them free, then you're not giving consumers a chance to make that step, to make that behavioural change and break that habit."

Ireland and Denmark were the first two countries to bring in levies for plastic bags from shops in 2003, and England introduced one in 2015.

"I remember doing rounds of interviews on the morning that the plastic bag levy came into effect in the UK," she said.

"And I was told that people would practically be sobbing at the checkouts - they weren't; they got over it."

Ms Siegle said there have not been reversals of the plastic bag ban overseas, and Coles's actions were "extraordinary".

"Four weeks is not a long time to get people to change their behaviours, and if that's really the upshot of it, and that's really their aim, I think it's a real mistake," she said.

"I wonder if there's anything else behind it."

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