In a stride towards sustainability, the discount supermarket chain Aldi has announced its transition to using 100 percent recycled plastic (rPet) for its own-brand soft drinks and bottled water offerings in England and Wales.
This initiative reportedly establishes Aldi as the first UK supermarket to convert its entire own-label soft drinks category to fully recycled materials, with the sole exceptions being the cap and label.
The revamped packaging will gradually appear across all relevant products in the soft drinks aisle of its stores.
The retailer estimates that the switch to entirely recycled content will prevent the use of “around 10,000 tonnes of virgin plastic” annually. This step is part of Aldi’s broader goal to incorporate 50 percent recycled content in all its plastic packaging by 2025.
Luke Emery, Plastics and Packaging Director at Aldi UK, commented on the initiative: “We know our customers care about how their food and drink is packaged, as well as how it is disposed of and where it goes next. This, coupled with the fact that the reuse of plastic packaging once it has been recycled is a critical industry-wide issue, means we’re doing all we can to reduce our impact.
“Moving to recycled content on our soft drinks range forms part of our efforts to accelerate our progress on this journey. We also hope the new labelling we are introducing will help to remind customers to recycle their packaging after use so we can all do our bit to increase recycling rates in the UK,” Emery further explained.
Following its recent launch of the UK’s inaugural supermarket own-brand paper wine bottles, Aldi continues to innovate in packaging. The new wine containers, utilised for its Cambalala South African Shiraz and South African Sauvignon Blanc, feature a construction of 94 percent recycled paperboard, with an internal food-grade pouch that securely holds the wine.
Tom McBeth, Policy & Infrastructure Manager from the plastics recycling charity RECOUP, praised the supermarket’s efforts: “It’s great to see Aldi delivering on their commitments to increase the amount of recycled content in packaging. In line with circular economy aims, this change will see a significant amount of virgin material replaced with recycled plastic.”