The Flexible Plastics Fund was established in May 2021 by five founding partners: Mars, Mondelēz International, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever, led by the producer compliance scheme Ecosurety.
The group has an AI-powered ‘evidence system’ called eco2Veritas, developed by Greenback Recycling Technologies.
This system tracks and certifies the amount of flexible plastic collected, shows how much of it is sorted and into which polymers and finally, how much is reprocessed and into what end products.
As part of the scheme, when the flexible plastic is tracked and certified as recycled by eco2Veritas, Aldi “receives funding from the FPF which supports the recycling of this challenging material”.
Verification
Ecosurety explained that in February 2024, Aldi received the first certificate generated by eco2Veritas, which confirmed 62 tonnes of in-scope Polyethylene (PE) and 25 tonnes of in-scope Polypropylene (PP) were recycled.
The material was collected over a number of months in 2023 and additional volumes are expected to undergo certification in the weeks ahead.
Aldi currently collects around 300 tonnes of post-consumer flexible plastic packaging per year.
Material from Aldi’s front-of-store collection points is taken to plastics recycler Jayplas who stockpiles it until there is enough material to sort into two main polymers (PE and PP). This material is then pelletised and the PE is used to make refuse sacks, whilst the PP is used to make crates and trays.
Luke Emery, plastic and packaging director at Aldi UK, said: “We are committed to tackling plastic waste. We know this is an issue that matters to our customers too, which is why we’re working with the Flexible Plastic Fund to further improve the recycling of flexible plastics collected in our stores.”
Publicity
Many large supermarkets have been collecting soft plastics such as bread bags and carrier bags via front of store bins in recent years.
However, there have been a string of articles in the national press questioning where this can end up, leading to some question marks over the scheme.
It is hoped this initiative can therefore provide the “full transparency” needed in such a system to ensure there is sufficient confidence to make the recycling of the material a success.
‘Dedication’
Gareth Morton, FPF project lead at Ecosurety said: “I’d like to congratulate everyone involved at Aldi, Greenback and Jayplas for their dedication and hard work in making this exciting initiative happen. It’s been a while in the making – from exploring options and building trust with the industry, to developing the eco2Veritas certification platform which tracks everything and gives everyone confidence in the process and outcomes.”
He added: “Thanks also to the FPF members for their support in enabling us to deliver a ground-breaking initiative – the first of its kind in the UK and possibly in Europe. Initiatives like this are essential to build confidence: the public needs to know that this material is actually being recycled; and the industry also needs to know what is possible using this feedstock and that being open about recycling and end destinations has strong benefits.”
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