Excellent news on the sustainability front.

[Adam_W]

Absolute kudos to Bunnings after reading that they plan to remove the bee-killing neonicotinoid insecticides (neonics) from their shelves by the end of 2018 & from their entire supply chain by the end of 2020.
Personally I have been agitating against the use of these products for years as suspicion grew & evidence mounted demonstrating that they were a major contributor to beehive colony collapse disorder.
If bees are not killed out-right by the product it seems that in low doses, when residual product is picked-up through pollen, the major health impact is to cause neurological confusion & the bees become unable to relocate their hives eventually dying of thirst, lost & confused.
More than just sad when you consider that bees are critical pollinators & the estimate is that around 1/3 of the food on our plates would disappear if bees were lost…
The ‘headline’ products this will impact will be Confidor and any other products containing Imidacloprid as the active constituent.
The removal will likely also cover products such as MaxGuard that have the active constituent Acetamiprid, another neonic.
The long-term Bunnings vision is apparently to replace these products with more sustainable and organic options.

[Bunnings]

Thanks for your feedback @Adam_W. We will share it with the team.

Bunnings regularly engages with a range of experts, regulators and relevant authorities to ensure we keep abreast of the evolving science and issues impacting bee populations.

For some time now we have been working closely with suppliers and partners around the use of neonicotinoids. Following a decision made late last year we are currently working towards the removal of these pesticides from our stores.

As you note, our business in the United Kingdom and Ireland plan to achieve this by the end of 2018 and in Australia and New Zealand we are committed to removing neonicotinoid-based garden care products from sale by the end of 2018.

We are also working closely with our suppliers to stop using neonicotinoids on garden plants we sell by the end of 2020. 

Thanks again for your message.

[Kellie]