Aldi Ireland has received the Green Retailer Award at this year’s Green Awards, which took place at The Clayton Hotel, Burlington Road on Tuesday, 25 February.
Aldi was recognised for its company-wide commitment to a series of sustainability initiatives, including packaging and waste reduction, carbon reduction, biodiversity and staff training and awareness, the discounter said.
Eco-friendly Bags
On the 30 October, the retailer announced that it has removed all single use plastic bags for loose fruit and vegetable produce and replaced them with 100% compostable bags including reusable, compostable and paper bags.
The new alternatives includes 100% compostable loose fruit and vegebable bags, a 100% Compostable Shopping bag and a reusable and recyclable Paper 'Bag for Life'.
The move will see the group remove 12.5 million plastic bags from its stores annually.
“It’s been a rewarding year for sustainability and carbon offset at Aldi," said John Curtin, Aldi Group Buying Director.
"We are very proud of the achievements we have made in areas such as plastic and packaging reduction, where this year we estimate our efforts have removed over 12 million plastic bags and 10 million black plastic trays from landfills annually," he added.
Looking Ahead
Looking ahead Aldi said that it will continue to invest heavily in new eco-friendly refrigeration and lighting systems.
“We have also invested over four million euro in environmentally-friendly refrigeration systems for our new stores and achieved zero food waste to-landfill through our food donation programme with our charity partner FoodCloud." Curtin highlighted.
The German retailer said that it has 'made a commitment' to plant over 100,000 trees across Ireland by 2024.
The Green Awards, first established in 2008, 'recognise the extraordinary contribution and commitment that companies make towards growing a greener future in Irish business today'.
© 2020 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. Click sign-up to subscribe to Checkout.
