Woolworths announces all stores will ban single-use plastic bags within 12 months.

Single-use plastic bags will be a thing of the past at the checkouts of Woolworths and Coles in the next 12 months.

Woolworths Group chief executive Brad Banducci, right, and Woolworths
 Stores director Michael James with the company's new range of bags.

In a shock announcement on Friday afternoon, Woolworths revealed it would shortly begin phasing out the bags in supermarkets, Big W and BWS stores, with a total ban in place by June 30 next year.

Read the story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Woolworths announces all stores will ban single-use plastic bags within 12 months.”