Aldi Set To Replace 12.5 Million Single Use Plastic Bags With Compostable Bags

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By Luke Miller / Truth Theory

Aldi is going green with its commitment to replace 12.5 million single-use plastic bags with compostable bags. Starting January 2020, all 139 of its Irish stores will stock 100% compostable eco-friendly bag options. 

They will produce 3 new bags which include – loose produce bags, Aldi Reusable Shopping Bags, and reusable and recyclable Paper Bags for Life. They are also replacing all loose fruits and vegetable bags to 100% compostable. From the 12.5 million bags they create, 10 million of them will be produce bags, and the rest will be shopping bags.

John Curtin, Group Buying Director at Aldi Ireland, said:

We are very proud to be the first retailer in Ireland to offer customers biodegradable and plastic-free alternatives to our entire produce and carrier bag range, including fruit and vegetable bags, standard carrier bags and Bags for Life. With 139 supermarkets in the Republic of Ireland, we are excited to see the environmental impact this new initiative will have in communities across the country.

Compostable bags will be made from corn starch and suitable for compost bins. The paper bags will be made from FSC certified eco-friendly paper and printed with sustainable ink. Aldi has committed to completely eliminating all non-recyclable packaging from its range by the end of 2020, along with the following pledges. 

  1. By 2022 Aldi aims for 100% of all own-label packaging to be recyclable, reusable or compostable (where it does not have a detrimental effect on product quality or safety or increase food waste) 
  2. By 2025 Aldi aims to achieve 100% recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging across all products (where it does not have a detrimental effect on product quality or safety or increase food waste) 
  3. By 2025 Aldi aims to reduce packaging by 50% (relative to 2015 baseline) 
  4. By 2025 Aldi aims for 50% of its packaging to be made from recycled material 
  5. Aldi will publicly report on its packaging progress annually starting in 2019 
  6. Aldi is educating customers on the importance of waste reduction (reduce, reuse, recycle) through its community programs 
  7. Aldi removed all single-use plastic bags from our stores at the end of 2018 
  8. Aldi is working in partnership with other retailers to reduce its dependence on plastic 
  9. Aldi has established a Packaging Task Force with its Buying Teams and external experts to deliver these goals 
  10. In principle, Aldi supports a Deposit Return Scheme for plastic bottles and is conducting a feasibility study into how it could implement such a scheme

Image Credit: Jerome Cid  & Pensby Primary School

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