Council considers regulations against abandoning supermarket trolleys
Christchurch councillors say shopping trolleys are being abandoned on footpaths and in rivers, causing a nuisance and costing businesses millions of dollars.
Council staff responded to reports of 6313 abandoned trolleys in the city in the year to last October, more than half of which came from the country's two biggest supermarket chains —2238 from Woolworths New Zealand and 1652 from Foodstuffs-owned Pak'nSave and New World.
RNZ has been told trolleys cost an average of $300 but could cost up to $700 each, with Woolworths spending more than $1.5 million per year on abandoned trolleys nationwide.
Abandoned trolleys were generally reported via the Snap Send Solve app and directed to the retailer who owned the trolley for collection.
On Wednesday, councillors would consider a staff report outlining regulatory and non-regulatory options for addressing the problem by either by adding a clause to an existing waste bylaw or working with Retail NZ on a memorandum of understanding.
Under that approach, they would collaborate on preventive measures and collecting and returning trolleys to stores.
Staff also canvassed distance and time limits around trolley use, including coin deposit locks and wheel locks, although they noted the coin system could easily be circumvented by inserting another item like a key into the slot and people could keep pushing trolleys with locked wheels, breaking them.
Woolworths New Zealand said it had trolley collection services to help keep streets tidy.
"We want to keep our local communities tidy and trolley-free and ensure that we have enough trolleys available in our stores," a spokesperson said.
"We spend over $1.5 million a year on collecting abandoned trolleys, and our contractors collect around 80,000 trolleys and return them to our stores every year."
Foodstuffs said most customers did the right thing and returned trolleys to their designated bays.
"Out of the hundreds used each week, only a small number are taken off-site. We regularly patrol nearby streets to collect abandoned trolleys, and when members of the public report one, we aim to retrieve it as quickly as possible," a spokesperson said.
"However, trolleys do occasionally go missing, and it's always disappointing when they're stolen or dumped. We encourage the public to report any misplaced or stolen trolleys so we can arrange prompt collection.''
Councillor Yani Johanson said he had once seen 10 trolleys in one street, and in one case it took more than a month and 10 complaints for a trolley to be collected.
"The people that own the shopping trolleys have a duty of care to the environment and the community to pick them up and to stop them from being abandoned in the first place," he said.
Johanson had requested the council to take a similar approach to Auckland Council, which had added shopping trolleys as a clause in its waste management and minimisation bylaw in 2019.
Councillor Aaron Keown said supermarkets and other shopping precincts should have areas beyond which trolleys cannot go, otherwise it would be treated as theft.
"I'm not allowed to walk into the store and grab six blocks of chocolate and walk out, trolleys are exactly the same," he said.
"People take this liberty that 'it's a shopping trolley, I'll just use it to get my goods home'. It's not for that, stop doing it."
Councillor Sara Templeton said trolleys were sometimes abandoned because people did not have another way to take their groceries home.
"In Ōtautahi Christchurch we have 13% of adults who don't have a driver's licence. For many of them, being able to transport groceries home in another way is really valuable," she said.
"Yes, they should be taking them back afterwards, but I'm not in favour of stopping people being able to remove trolleys from business premises."
Retail NZ advocacy manager Ann-Marie Johnson said she favoured a solution involving both the council and retailers.
"Then you've got willing partners on both sides to investigate the issue, whereas if it's put into a bylaw, that can be a heavy-hitting approach," she said.
By RNZ's Joe Shaw
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
11 hours ago
- RNZ News
Supermarket sector competition reports like Groundhog Day
Supermarket sector competition reports are like Groundhog Day. Photo: 123RF Analysis - Compare the following two statements: "Some of the signs I am seeing is that suppliers are very fearful of repercussion, there's a lack of trust." And... "My concern is that the power imbalance between the major supermarkets and small suppliers creates a reluctance among suppliers to push back." They are both from Grocery Commissioner Pierre van Heerden - the first from August 2024 , the second June 2025 . The nine months between the statements have produced another round of research, recommendations, and call for submissions with the aim of getting better deals for suppliers and consumers, forcing better behaviour and greater competition between the dominant Foodstuffs and Woolworths chains. The Commerce Commission's original market study was ordered in 2020, the final report published in March 2022, and law changes came into effect in 2023. The regulator looked to assist the transition through educating suppliers, offering them sample contracts to put to the supermarket chains, setting up a whistle blowing facility for those wanting to report bad behaviour, and a stern message to Foodstuffs and Woolworths to behave and play nice or risk the Grocery Commissioner's wrath. And yet the latest report concludes much as the first report - the grocery sector is not competitive and the duopoly keeps throwing its weight around, while the small suppliers remain intimidated. Grocery Commissioner Pierre van Heerden. Photo: The Grocery Commissioner has sought to engage with the two big chains and change attitudes. They have conceded most of the easy ground such as ending land banking, accepting the mandatory code of conduct, and agreeing to look at freeing up their wholesale arrangements. But clearly the original reforms have failed to cut through, hence the move to now strengthen the Grocery Supply Code to stop retailers charging suppliers for stocking shelves or for past-their-best by date groceries in the retailer's control; require retailers to reimburse suppliers if they buy stock at promotional prices, but later sell them at higher prices; and prohibit retailers from retaliating against suppliers who assert their rights under the code. van Heerden told RNZ that he had the resolve and the resources to take legal action when justified , but that bringing about change in the sector takes time. To date, the regulator has gone for the relatively low hanging fruit of misleading prices and advertising . The challenge now is to bring about real change in supermarket actions. A prosecution or two may be needed. The wild card in the supermarket debate is what will the government do. Finance Minister Nicola Willis entered the debate verbal guns blazing in March saying the government was looking at all options to bring greater competition to the grocery sector. She said that could be done either by encouraging a major new player into the sector or possibly a 'nuclear option' of breaking up or restructuring the existing chains. The government has issued a formal request for information (RFI) to accelerate improved competition, and advise on potential regulatory and legislative changes, and whether structural changes would be needed. That was an option which the Commerce Commission shied away from as being too difficult, commercially and legally. Going after supermarket chains assessed as profiteering from consumers reads well in headlines, but will the talk be turned into a walk? Or will it be down to van Heerden to make progress slowly, one supermarket aisle at a time? Gyles Beckford is RNZ's business editor. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
National Business Review
17 hours ago
- National Business Review
ComCom seeks crackdown on supermarket supplier rebates
Retail 3 mins to read 3 ComCom seeks crackdown on supermarket supplier rebates A draft report on the Grocery Supply Code finds Foodstuffs and Woolworths receive subsidies from their suppliers of more than $5b a year. The Commerce Commission report reviews the function of Grocery Supply Code since its introduction in 2023.
Newsroom
17 hours ago
- Newsroom
Crackdown on $15b supermarket giants' opaque pricing ‘doesn't go far enough'
Analysis: A Government attempt to break open supermarkets' chokehold on grocery wholesale 'hasn't worked as intended', the Commerce Commission admits. That may be an understatement. According to the general manager of the family-owned Night 'n Day grocery chain, it's failed dismally. Foodstuffs and Woolworths sold only $7 million of groceries to smaller retailers through the regulated 'fair price' wholesale scheme last year, Matthew Lane says. Night 'n Day wants to offer competitive grocery prices. It's grown from one corner store in Dunedin to a nationwide chain of 52 grocery and convenience stores. Lane says it's the third-biggest grocery chain in New Zealand, after the two big players – but it's not even close to being able to break the duopoly's market control. One of the biggest challenges for smaller retailers is accessing grocery supplies at a good price. Many dairy owners are forced to queue at the checkouts of the big supermarkets to buy their supplies at retail prices, then mark up those prices further to turn a dollar. To help address that, the previous government applied some arm-twisting, to get the big chains to open up their wholesale operations to smaller competitors. Finance Minister Nicola Willis now says she's turning her attention to the supermarket sector, and all options are on the table, including breaking up the big companies – either forcing them to divest some of their stores, or separating their wholesale and retail businesses. In a dramatic development on Thursday morning, Grocery Commissioner Pierre van Heerden has given the two big chains just 12 months to clean shop – or face regulation. Lane welcomes the preliminary findings from the commission's wholesale supply inquiry, recommending the major supermarkets expand their wholesale product range and pass on promotional funding to allow other retailers to access lower prices. Last year, as an example, Foodstuffs had sold just $1.3m worth of goods through the scheme. It approved only 41 wholesale customers to purchase from its wholesale service – and Night 'n Day was not one of them. So Lane's also cautiously supportive of Government attempts to woo one of the big foreign supermarket brands like German-owned discount grocer Aldi to these shores – but he says ministers should be looking closer to home. 'They shouldn't put all their eggs in one basket,' he says. 'If we can develop grocery competition locally, well, I think that's actually a better result for all parties – especially opening the door to someone that's already established in the market. 'We can control our destiny. We're here in the market, and we're wanting to grow.' The grocery commissioner says the current grocery market is not serving Kiwi consumers well. 'The status quo lets a few major players set the rules for the rest of the industry which is negatively impacting consumers, new and expanding competitors, and small suppliers.' Van Heerden criticises Foodstuffs, Woolworths, and some of the large national and multinational suppliers, whose significant market share allows them to influence the settings of the market. His draft report proposes to change the Grocery Supply Code to stop the supermarkets imposing a confusing array of charges on suppliers – they're typically forced to pick up the tab for supermarket costs like stocking shelves, setting up displays, and promoting their products. Van Heerden also wants to eradicate the $5b in rebates, discounts and promotional payments paid by the big suppliers to the supermarkets, to put their products 'on special'. 'Competing retailers can't negotiate similar levels of support due to their weaker buying power. 'Consumers lose out because prices jump around more. This can mean the average price is more expensive and it's harder for consumers to assess the value of products.' New Zealand cooperative Foodstuffs is the country's biggest player, with more than 500 Pak'nSave, New World, Four Square and Liquorland stores, as well as wholesalers Gilmours and Trents. It's at war with the Commerce Commission, taking court action to challenge millions of dollars of fines for anti-competitive land covenants, and to overturn the commission's ban on it merging its North Island and South Island businesses. Spokesperson Stefan Herrick says a well-functioning market must support efficient, productive outcomes – and that includes ensuring retailers can negotiate fairly to deliver value at the checkout. The co-op takes its obligations under the new Grocery Supply Code seriously, he says. Any supplier who has an issue should complain through the appropriate channel. 'In our view, the current code has already effectively set the 'rules of engagement' with suppliers. We regularly survey our suppliers to ensure we are working as partners, listening, and constantly improving.' Australian-owned Woolworths NZ, which has more than 185 stores and also franchises 70 SuperValue and FreshChoice stores, has mostly taken a more conciliatory approach. Interim managing director Pieter de Wet says wholesale is a new and fast-evolving area for the company. 'In just three years we've developed a business which provides grocery products to more than 100 retail sites and we have over 60 customers using our service to provide more choices for shoppers,' he says. 'We're working closely with suppliers and wholesale customers.' Both chains say they'll take time to read the draft documents issued by the Commerce Commission in detail, and promise to work constructively with the commission through the submission process.
