Aldi has exceeded its 2025 goal to reduce food waste

In the retailer’s annual sustainability report for 2022 was published last week, the retailer announced that it had reduced food waste by 57% against its 2017 baseline.

The retailer attributed this reduction in part to its partnerships with three different charities Neighbourly, Company Shop Group and the Bread and Butter Thing (TBBT) as it donates surplus products like long-life items, fresh produce, bakery goods, and flowers throughout the year.

The supermarket stated that through its partnership with Company Shop Group 14,538 tonnes of surplus food has been donated.

Liz Fox, national sustainability director, Aldi UK and Ireland said “We’re always looking for new and creative ways to increase the amount of food we can donate. This partnership is enabling us to distribute even more surplus stock, while supporting a vast range of good causes. Our aim is for fresh, healthy food to be accessible for everyone, and Neighbourly are helping us to extend this commitment beyond our affordable range of fresh products.”

The report also highlights that there was a 41.9% reduction in food waste tonnage (compared with 2017) which it partially attributed to its 75% price reduction on fresh produce, bakery and chilled products that are nearing the end of their shelf life and the 30% price reduction the retailer placer on ambient items that have imperfect outer packaging.

Packaging

The report also states  that Aldi has reduced plastic packaging by 30% which it partially attributes to the introduction of recycling bins for soft plastics in 75% of its stores. The retailer has states that it aims to collect up to 300 tonnes of plastic in 2023 through this initiative. Additionally, the company has been trialling a refill scheme.

Aldi has highlighted that it has removed plastic shrink-wrap from multi-packs of Bramwell’s baked beans which it estimates saves 78 tonnes of single-use plastic annually/

The report says that the retailer has eliminated single-use plastic cutlery, plates, cups, and straws ahead of legislative mandates in 2023. Moreover, the company has successfully phased out “problematic plastic packaging”—like black plastic, PVC, and expanded polystyrene—from the primary packaging of its core food range and replaced it with “100% pulp-based” packaging which it states has at least 70% recycled content.

To find out more about food waste, visit the Food Waste Conference on 7 March 2023. To find out more please click here.