Aldi provides customers with five ways to make supermarket shopping more sustainable

In the lead up to Earth Day 2021, Aldi shared five insider tips to help people shop more sustainably.

From finding ways to reduce the need for plastic packaging, to minimising food waste and supporting Irish suppliers, there’s plenty of smalls steps that can help to make your shop more sustainable.

John Curtin, Group Buying Director, Aldi Ireland said: “Making simple changes to your shopping habits can go a long way to reducing the environmental impact of your weekly shop. We’re always looking for new ways to make it easier for customers to shop sustainably at Aldi, while also pushing ourselves in equal measure to be greener every day.”

1. Cut down on plastic packaging

Choosing loose fruit and vegetables instead of multipacks could make a big difference to the amount of plastic packaging needed, and the same goes for other types of products where additional plastic is used for multipacks.

Aldi is committed to eliminating plastic wherever possible as it works towards its target of halving the amount of plastic packaging used by the end of 2025. Recent initiatives include 100% plastic-free packaging on a range of Easter products, the removal of plastic straws from all of its own-label drinks cartons, and the elimination of plastic shrink-wrap on its own-label multipack soft drink cans.

2. Don’t forget to recycle

 If an item requires plastic packaging to stay fresh, try to choose products with recyclable packaging instead where possible. When it comes to recycling, empty and rinse any residual food waste on items you wish to recycle, and squash items down in your recycling bin to fit more into each collection. Aldi uses industry standard labelling on all products to advise you how to recycle our packaging.

Since introducing our plastic-reduction strategy, Aldi has removed more than 2,050 tonnes of virgin plastic from its 145 Irish stores in addition to replacing almost 930 tonnes of non-recyclable material with recyclable alternatives.

3. Buy Irish

Food miles can really add up, so always consider buying products from local, Irish sources to cut the need for imports and reduce the carbon footprint of your weekly shop.

Aldi has invested more than €3,000,000 in its Grow with Aldi supplier development programme since 2018, which provides an opportunity for small and medium Irish food and drink companies to gain a listing in Aldi’s 145 stores.

4. Tackle food waste

 It pays to be organised with your weekly shop – saving you time in the aisles and reducing any food waste by buying unnecessary items. To avoid this, make a shopping list and plan your food shop for the whole week to ensure you only get what you need.

Knowing your date labels is also key to preventing good food from being thrown away. Remember, a ‘Use By’ date on a product is there for food safety reasons, meaning you can eat food right up to the date, but not after unless you freeze it. ‘Best Before’, on the other hand, is about quality. While food should be safe to eat after the date, it may no longer be at its best.

Aldi is undertaking a variety of initiatives, including its surplus food donation programme in partnership with FoodCloud, to help its suppliers to reduce their waste. Aldi has recently donated an additional €25,000 in retail value of non-surplus food to FoodCloud as the charity has experienced ongoing record demand for its services due to Covid-19.

5. Go green

 When it comes to shopping more sustainably, it’s not just about how you shop, but where you shop too.

There are lots of ways your supermarket can improve its green credentials, so keep an eye on what they’re up to alongside your own efforts.

Aldi has continued to work towards being more sustainable across its stores and business activities, and was awarded the Green Retailer of the Year award at the 2020 Green Awards in February 2020.

For further information contact:

Find our latest media updates at www.aldipresscentre.ie

Find us on our website at www.aldi.ie

Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AldiIreland

Find us on LinkedIn at https://ie.linkedin.com/company/aldi-ireland

Follow us on Twitter at @Aldi_Ireland #AldiEverydayAmazing

Find us on Instagram here: www.instagram.com/aldi_ireland/ or @aldi_ireland

About Aldi

• Aldi employs over 4,500 people and operates a network of 145 stores across the country, with stores in each county in the Republic of Ireland.

• Aldi is Ireland’s highest paying supermarket and the first supermarket to pay staff the Living Wage Technical Group’s €12.30 rate, which came into effect on the 1^st February 2020.

• Aldi currently stocks over 1,800 products and works with over 330 Irish suppliers across Ireland. In addition to this, Aldi has invested more than €3,000,000 in its Grow with Aldi supplier development programme since 2018, which provides an opportunity to Irish food and drink companies to gain a listing in Aldi’s 145 stores.
• Aldi works with a number of national charities including Barnardos, FoodCloud, and the Irish Cancer Society. We also partner with local communities and charities across Ireland in donating €77,500 worth of Community Grants each year to help fund local causes. To date, Aldi has donated a total of €2.6m worth of meals to FoodCloud, €320,000 to Barnardos (in vouchers and stock donations since our partnership launch at the end of October 2020), €375,000 to the Community Grants programme, and helped raise over €1.5m since partnering with the Irish Cancer Society in 2016.
• Aldi is the official supermarket of the IRFU and sponsor of Aldi Play Rugby, a programme that encourages school children to lead healthy and active lifestyles.
• Aldi is a verified member of Bord Bia’s national sustainability programme Origin Green, Ireland’s pioneering food and drink sustainability programme.
• Aldi has achieved Business in the Community Ireland’s Business Working Responsibly mark, one of the leading independently audited standards for CSR and Sustainability certification in Ireland.
• In December 2020, Aldi was awarded the Overall 2020 Pakman award as well as the Silver Plastic Pledge Award at the 2020 Pakman Awards, powered by Repak. In addition, Aldi was also named the Green Retailer of the Year at the 2020 Green Awards in February 2020.

Twitter

Linkedin

0