• Aldi released its first report into how it has been reducing its plastics and packaging.
• It comes as Aldi customers have called on the company to cut down its use of plastics for fresh produce.
• Aldi has a plan to slash its plastics and packaging use by 25% by 2025.
• Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.

Aldi Australia has revealed how it’s progressing toward its goal of reducing its plastics usage.

The supermarket released its first Plastics and Packaging Progress report, which outlines how far it has moved towards its goal of reducing its plastics and packaging 25% by 2025.

The report highlights the steps Aldi is taking to reach its target, including reducing the amount of plastic packaging used for fresh produce, phasing out unnecessary single-use plastics and slashing the use of black plastic packaging.

Aldi is known for never freely providing single-use plastic bags. Instead, customers either have to bring in their own bags, pay for bags at the counter or use cardboard boxes. Nonetheless, some Aldi customers have been calling out the supermarket for its use of plastic with some products.

When Aldi revealed that it will use 100% renewable energy at its stores by 2021 on Facebook in August, shoppers fired back in the comments section with responses to Aldi’s use of plastic.

In its latest report, Aldi said it is “on track” with hitting its 2025 target. It has been phasing out single-use plastic tableware, plastic straws and cotton buds. By the end of 2020, these cotton buds will be replaced with paper stems instead of plastic ones, with Aldi also working to find non-plastic tableware alternatives.

“Starting with single use plastic is the best way to make small changes that have big benefits for the environment,” Aaron Nolan, Director of National Buying at ALDI Australia said in a statement.

Aldi has been cutting down on the use of plastics for fresh produce, ditching plastic sleeves on spring onions, removing plastic bags from banana stands and switching from plastic punnets to cardboard trays for produce like zucchinis, capsicums and Roma tomatoes.

For situations where Aldi can’t remove plastics, it will focus on recyclable packaging.

It has swapped out the black plastic packaging – which is hard for automated recycling facilities to detect – to clear packaging for its meat range. The retailer has also made a commitment to make its exclusive brands 100% recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025, in a bid to support the circular economy.

On top of that, Aldi is working with APCO (the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation) to roll out the Australiasian Recycling Label, a nationwide labelling scheme that points out what you should do with different parts of packaging you intend to throw away. According to Aldi’s report, the labelling makes it clear whether an item needs to go into the waste bin or the recycling bin.

As the supermarket has worked to reduce its plastics use, there have been some challenges. Aldi mentioned how its trial of compostable nets on some produce didn’t work because they ended up tearing. Plus, it’s still working to get rid of plastic straws attached to juice boxes.

“We acknowledge that there are many challenges involved, which is why we developed an ALDI Plastic and Packaging Taskforce, made up of numerous stakeholders and business experts, to support the reduction of plastics in our supply chain and ensure that our internal stakeholders and business partners are best equipped for change,” ALDI Australia Managing Director of National Buying, Oliver Bongardt said in a statement.

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