Aldi makes major packaging change affecting all 990 UK stores

04 May 2023 , 12:13

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Aldi is working to reduce its plastic waste (Image: Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Aldi has become the first major UK retailer to offer fully recyclable own-label handwash packaging to reduce plastic waste.

The German discount supermarket has removed all of the glass and metal components from the pumps - which means the entire packaging is able to be fully recycled in the UK.

Shoppers will be able to grab the fully recyclable product very easily as Aldi will be selling it across all of its stores in the country.

As a result of the change, Aldi could save over 200 tonnes of packaging material going to landfills a year.

This announcement follows the supermarket's switch to cardboard packaging for its own-brand porridge pots and its roll out of the soft plastic recycling scheme at the end of last year.

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Aldi says the new packaging will save 200 tonnes of plastic each year (Aldi)

By swapping to cardboard packaging, Aldi says it is saving 175 tonnes of plastic each year.

Luke Emery, plastics and packaging director at Aldi, said: “Reducing waste is incredibly important to us and our customers, and we will not stop looking for ways to improve our packaging to ensure shoppers know they are making a more environmentally friendly choices when buying their everyday products."

Aldi made a pledge back in 2018 to make all of its own-label packaging recyclable by the end of 2022, however, the supermarket chain missed this target.

At the end of 2022, Aldi said it was struggling to change the final 1% of its products.

It is also working towards a separate target of all branded packaging being recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.

Aldi has more than 990 stores across the UK.

Aldi is not the only UK supermarket tackling its plastic waste.

Recently Sainsbury's removed the single use plastic trays from its whole chickens which it says would help save 140 tonnes of plastic each year.

It also made the controversial move to replace its tray-based beef mince packaging with vacuum packs.

The new packaging uses 55% less plastic than the traditional plastic tray covered with film and would save 450 tonnes of plastic each year.

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However, Sainsbury's was forced to defend its decision as it received severe backlash over the move.

Customers complained that the new vacuum packaging made the beef mince look like "a rectangle of mushed off cuts” and “destroyed” the product.

Another said the beef now looked like it had "been grown in a lab".

Even with this controversy, Sainsbury's said the new packaging was here to stay although it was "always listening to feedback".

Ruby Flanagan