ALDI commits to recyclable, compostable packaging

By 2025, 100 percent of ALDI‘s packaging, including plastic packaging, will be reusable, recyclable or compostable, the company announced. ALDI said it also will reduce packaging material across its entire range by at least 15 percent.

ALDI said it has the ability to influence how its products are sourced, produced and brought to shelves because more than 90 percent of its range is ALDI-exclusive. The company said it is committed to working with its supplier community to achieve the following comprehensive goals:

• By 2025, 100 percent of ALDI packaging, including plastic packaging, will have reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging;
• By 2025, packaging material of all ALDI-exclusive products to be reduced by at least 15 percent;
• By 2020, 100 percent of ALDI-exclusive consumable packaging to include How2Recycle label;
• By 2020, implement an initiative to make private-label product packaging easier for customers to reuse;
• Guide continuous improvement of product packaging by internal expertise and external evaluations.

“ALDI has never offered single-use plastic shopping bags, and while we’re pleased that we’ve helped keep billions of plastic grocery bags out of landfills and oceans, we want to continue to do more,” said Jason Hart, CEO of ALDI U.S. “The commitments we’re making to reduce plastic packaging waste are an investment in our collective future that we are proud to make.”

These new goals are an extension of the company’s existing sustainability initiatives. For more than four decades, ALDI U.S. has never offered single-use plastic grocery bags, and shoppers have brought their reusable bags.

In July 2018, ALDI partnered with How2Recycle, a standardized labeling system, to empower its customers to recycle.

These packaging goals, along with other environmental initiatives, are part of the larger ALDI corporate responsibility program, which actively works to reduce food waste, support natural disaster relief efforts through employee volunteerism and donations, and build stronger communities through a long-standing partnership with Feeding America.

ALDI operates more than 1,800 U.S. stores in 35 states.