Supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles are stepping up their war on plastic, introducing new bans and targets on Monday.
The retailers committed to going further than their previous announcements to ditch single-use plastic bags in response to demands from consumers.
Woolworths will ban plastic straws by the end of this year, while its program to remove plastic wrap from fruit and vegetables will be expanded to include another 80 products.
It's also searching for a partner to help reduce food waste.
"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," chief executive Brad Banducci said.
Coles pledged to reduce plastic wrapping on fruit and vegetables, including bunches of bananas, kale and silver beet, and replace meat and poultry packaging with recycled and renewable materials.
"We know that 69 per cent of customers say that we need to actively reduce waste and landfill through recyclable packaging and find alternative uses for waste," Coles managing director John Durkan said.
It set itself a deadline of 2020 to halve food waste from its supermarkets and make all packaging of its home-brand products recyclable.
The retailer will also donate the equivalent of 100 million meals to people in need by redistributing surplus food.
