Aldi 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.
The change will prevent approximately 76 tonnes of plastic from entering the ocean each year – the equivalent of over 3 million plastic bottles – as well as supporting the bottle collectors, collection centres and local recycling facilities.
Aldi, the UK’s fifth-largest supermarket, 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.”
Raffi Schieir, Director of Bantam Materials, which supplies Prevented Ocean Plastic, said: “We developed Prevented Ocean Plastic to be part of the solution to ocean plastic pollution and are delighted to be working with Groupe Guillin and Aldi to provide customers with a better plastic choice.”
Last year, Aldi pledged to halve the volume of plastic packaging it uses by 2025. This will see it remove 74,000 tonnes of plastic packaging from products over the next four years.
The supermarket, which has been carbon neutral since January 2019, is also on track to have all own-label products recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2022, and branded products sold at Aldi by 2025.
