It’s been a positive week for the environment.

With Lidl introducing reusable net bags to help cut down on packaging waste in store, now SuperValu has announced another Irish first: from September 9th, 2019 their reusable shopping bags will be 100% compostable.

The 89c SuperValu shopping bag is made from a blend of renewable raw materials.

When the bag has been used as many times as possible it can be disposed of in the brown bin, where it will be fully broken down once taken to industrial composting sites, turning into water and CO2 within 90 days.

A first for any Irish retailer, the introduction of these bags to SuperValu stores will result in a massive 2.5 million plastic bags being removed from circulation.

The announcement follows the introduction of fully compostable fruit and vegetable bags for customers in 2018, resulting in 2.7 million single-use plastic bags already being removed from stores to date.

The supermarket’s strategy aims to make 100% of its Own Brand and fresh fruit and vegetable packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.