Wellington, April 20 NZPA - Supermarket chain Progressive Enterprises is still deciding whether to charge customers for plastic shopping bags.

The company has come under pressure from an environmental group after rival supermarket chain Foodstuffs and The Warehouse announced they would be putting a price on the bags.

From today, The Warehouse will be charging customers 10c per bag and Foodstuffs stores, which include New World, Four Square and Pak'n'Save, will charge 5c per bag from August 1.

Progressive's management was discussing the issue, spokeswoman Kate Carter told NZPA today.

"They are still looking at the options available to them."

Ms Carter was not sure when a decision would be made.

"I think it will take a little while, it won't be today."

A nationwide campaign pushing for a levy on plastic supermarket bags was launched last month.

The `Get Real' campaign wanted both supermarket chains to charge for the bags.

Representatives from the campaign are displaying a banner with hundreds of messages forming the words "no bags" in front of Countdown's Moorhouse Avenue store in Christchurch today, the New Zealand Herald reported.

Campaigners said they would present Progressives with a petition of nearly 1000 signatures asking it to stop giving away the plastic bags.

Five years ago both Progressives and Foodstuffs signed the Packaging Accord, which set a goal of reducing the number of bags used by a fifth (144 million bags) this year.

Foodstuffs have reduced plastic bag use by 19 percent since July 2007 with new packaging techniques and the sale of reusable shopping bags, managing director Tony Carter said.

"While we have made good progress ... we now need to take the next step in dramatically reducing the consumption of plastic bags," he said.

"We believe our customers understand the environmental reasons for introducing the charge and will respond favourably."

A trial by the Australian National Retailers Association found plastic bag consumption reduced by 80 percent when a charge was introduced, he said.

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