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ALDI TO BECOME FIRST RETAILER TO FULLY REMOVE BLACK PLASTIC FROM STORES.

Aldi Ireland will become the first retailer in Ireland to fully remove all black plastic from its core food range next month. Aldi has cut a massive 30 million difficult-to-recycle black plastic trays from its products and stores, saving 410 tonnes of non-recyclable plastic waste and replacing it with 100% recyclable alternatives.

As part of its pledge to remove all difficult-to-recycle plastics from core food lines by the end of 2020, Aldi is swapping the remainder of its black plastic trays for 100% recyclable packaging across its entire Ready Meal, Tasty Sides and biscuit ranges.

Aldi’s Ready Meal ranges will be moving to new “Evolve” trays, made from 85% recycled material, during September while its Tasty Sides ranges will be moving to 100% recyclable clear plastic trays.

The final range to fully remove black plastic from its packaging will be Aldi’s own-label biscuits, which will move to recyclable clear plastic trays by the end of October. Once the change is complete, all black plastic packaging will be removed from Aldi’s entire own label food range across its 143 Irish stores.

Aldi has been working in partnership with its suppliers to implement these changes as it moves to cut the use of difficult-to-recycle plastics.  Aldi announced last year that it had gotten rid of non-detectable black plastic from its fresh beef, fresh fish and fruit and vegetable ranges.

More recently, Aldi confirmed its falafel and veggie burger ranges had moved to 100% recyclable clear plastic trays, while its Specially Selected Pizza and Specially Selected tomato ranges moved to eco-friendly, fully recyclable cardboard trays.

Commenting, John Curtin, Aldi Group Buying Director, said: “Removing black plastic from all our core food range and limiting waste has been a key priority for Aldi. We are delighted that by the end of next month we will have achieved our aim, becoming the first retailer in Ireland to reach this goal. We understand customers are looking for more sustainable ways to shop with us, and we look forward to introducing more eco-friendly options in the future. We also want to thank all of our suppliers who have worked tirelessly on this phase of our plastics and packaging strategy. We know we have more to achieve, but this is another important milestone for the business.”

Since introducing its plastic-reduction strategy in March 2018, Aldi has removed more than 600 tonnes of plastic from its 143 Irish stores, replaced over 870 tonnes of unrecyclable material with recyclable alternatives and removed 490 tonnes of packaging from its core ranges.