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ALDI IRELAND WINS LEAN LEADERSHIP AT LEAN BUSINESS AWARDS 2022

Judges praise ALDI’s achievements in sustainability and operational efficiency

ALDI Ireland has received the award for ‘Lean Leadership’ at the Lean Business Awards 2022, in recognition of the fantastic strides it has made in sustainability, across both operational and energy efficiency, and driving further improvements over the past year.

The Lean Business Awards aims to position Ireland as the recognised centre of lean & enterprise excellence globally. ALDI was presented with the award at the ceremony in Croke Park, hosted by Lean Business Ireland.

Judges praised the innovative steps ALDI has taken through its sustainability initiatives, including its reverse vending machine trial. ALDI introduced its first reverse vending machine earlier this year at its Mitchelstown store in Cork,  as well as launching Ireland’s largest reverse vending machine at its Naas Monread Road store, and another unit in its Mallow, Cork store. Judges recognised the initiative with €1,000 being donated to ALDI’s charity partner Barnardos monthly for the duration of the trial. This is the first time in Ireland for a reverse vending machine scheme to establish a direct fundraising link to an Irish charity.

Judges also commended the ALDI team for its efforts to continuously develop its store network through its Project Fresh programme. ALDI’s entire store network is powered by 100% renewable electricity, and it achieved ISO 50001 accreditation in recognition of its efforts to improve energy efficiencies. Many stores have also received CO2 upgrades, meaning stores use a more environmentally friendly refrigerant.

Welcoming the award win, ALDI Ireland Group Managing Director, Niall O’Connor commented: “The team here at ALDI Ireland is absolutely delighted to win this award, and to be recognised for the great work undertaken to improve our sustainability initiatives and overall efficiency. Ensuring our customers have access to all the food and provisions they need, all at the best prices, across our 153 Irish stores is our priority, and this award is a testament to the hard work and commitment of all our colleagues and suppliers across the country.”

ALDI is continuously looking at new ways to improve sustainability across its processes and has been Carbon Neutral since January 2019. As part of its long-term commitment towards the environment, ALDI pledged to plant 1 million native Irish woodland trees by 2025, and over 500,000 trees have been planted around Ireland to date. This initiative will see a 160,000-tonne reduction in carbon emissions over the next 100 years.

ALDI has been recognised for its fantastic work in sustainability through a number of recent award wins, including being awarded the title of ‘Green Retailer’ at the 2022 Green Awards, and being voted Ireland’s Most Sustainable Supermarket by Irish Shoppers in the Ireland RepTrak Sustainability Index 2021.