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Aldi has announced that it is introducing packaging made with ‘Prevented Ocean Plastic’ across its entire range of own-label fishcakes and crispbakes.
The packaging, produced by Sharpak, part of Groupe Guillin, includes fully traceable and certified recycled waste plastic that has been “collected by communities living in coastal areas across the globe at risk of ocean plastic pollution”.
Aldi said the change will prevent “approximately 76 tonnes of plastic from entering the ocean each year” – the equivalent of over three million plastic bottles bottles – as well as supporting the “bottle collectors, collection centres and local recycling facilities”.
The German discounter has also “significantly reduced” the size of its fishcake packaging, which will see the removal of a further 32 tonnes of plastic annually, as well as 23 tonnes of cardboard from its specially selected lines.
Richard Gorman, plastics and packaging director at Aldi UK, said: “These changes will see us use less packaging overall, and also repurpose plastic that could otherwise end up polluting our oceans.
“This is the latest in a series of initiatives we are rolling out to reduce our environmental impact and offer our customers even more environmentally-sustainable options when they shop at Aldi.”
This is the latest move by Aldi to become a more environmentally sustainable retailer.
In May, Aldi revealed that it would be trialling its first collection facilities for soft plastics in select stores in the North of England and East Midlands, with a view to helping customers recycle “problem materials”.
The supermarket will provide collection bins at 20 of its stores across Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Greater Manchester, where customers can deposit clean, soft plastic packaging.
