UK – Multinational discount supermarket chain, Aldi has removed the glass and metal components from the pumps, making its handwash packaging fully recyclable at home.
Aldi says that it is the first UK supermarket retailer to make this change. The move will allow more than 200 tonnes of packaging material a year to be more easily recycled.
Aldi plastics and packaging director at Luke Emery 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 more environmentally friendly choices when buying their everyday products.”
This announcement follows the supermarket’s switch to cardboard packaging for its own-brand porridge pots and its rollout of the soft plastic recycling scheme at the end of last year.
As part of its membership, the supermarket introduced its own-label pods into the Podback scheme in an industry first, whilst also helping to promote the free recycling service to shoppers throughout the country in over 980 stores.
Aldi plastic and packaging director Richard Gorman said at the time: “We’re pleased to be joining Podback on this journey – especially as the first supermarket member.
“It’s important to us that we help customers do the right thing once our hot drink pods have been used and we look forward to seeing how our partnership with Podback progresses.”
By using the Podback service, customers could help to recycle up to 268 tonnes of plastic and 20 tonnes of aluminum Aldi own-label coffee pods each year.
With this move, Aldi joins other supermarket chains that are promoting a circular economy through innovations.
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.
Sainsbury’s says that the film packaging on the products can still be recycled via Sainsbury’s front-of-store flexible plastic recycling points available in all Sainsbury’s stores across the UK.
The change will be applied to five of Sainsbury’s products and is the latest move by the UK retailer to halve its own brand packaging by 50% by 2025.
Keeping sustainability in mind, Sainsbury’s says it has also made improvements to its chicken welfare standards across its supply chains.
The retailer has moved all its brand chicken products to a lower stocking density, giving its chickens 20% more space than the Red Tractor industry standard.
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