Aldi to phase out plastic packaging in a number of stores

Aldi stores across Plymouth are phasing out black plastic trays used for fresh food produce.

A couple of stores in Bradford are also receiving the treatment. This follows Aldi’s promise to ensure all of its packaging is recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.

The replacement trays will save up to 265 tonnes of plastic a year. Frequently, black plastic packaging ends up in landfill because it cannot be identified by machinery that sorts through usual household waste items.

Fritz Walleczek, Managing Director of Corporate Responsibility at Aldi UK, said: “Cutting waste is part of Aldi’s DNA and we have a longstanding commitment to minimise our impact on the environment. One part of that is to prevent plastic going to landfill by using materials that are easier to recycle – like these clear trays – but also to ensure that there is a demand for recycled plastic by using it in products like our pasta pots.”

Aldi are also scraping the packaging of its plastic pasta pots instead using 95 per cent recycled materials, this wall save a further 139 tonnes of plastic a year.

The supermarket chain join several other companies in a bid to reduce plastic pollution, a key issue in the UK currently. Theresa May has recently been reported to be introducing a proposal to increase the plastic bag levy to further crackdown on what she termed Britain’s ‘throwaway culture’.

Aldi is the UK’s fifth largest and fastest-growing supermarket and is a continuous frontrunner in leading the way for environmental protection.

In August, the supermarket also pledged to become carbon neutral by 2019.