A woman was left furious after watching Aldi staff throw away mountains of plastic-packaged food - despite asking if she could buy it to donate to charity.
Lidia Simpson, from Burton, had visited the supermarket on Rykneld Road in Littleover at roughly 7.30pm on Thursday, November 2 when she saw the food being chucked into the bin.
As reported by Derbyshire Live, she said: “We often go to the Hollybrook pub and the Aldi is on our way home, so we often just pick up bits when we pass by. We’d just paid for our shopping at the till. They’d got loads and loads of food on this checkout that they were just chucking into this big bin.
"I took a picture of it because I couldn’t believe the amount of waste, especially in this day and age, with the cost of living crisis and homeless people. All the plastic and cardboard would’ve gone straight to landfill as well rather than being recycled.”
The photo shows packs of sweet potato burgers, brussels sprouts, avocados and chocolate apples amongst the rubbish. Lidia then approached the worker throwing out the produce and questioned what was to happen with it.
She said: “I asked the woman if it was going to some kind of charity. She said no, that it was all waste and was no good to anyone. I think it’s an utter disgrace really. I know other supermarkets give to charity, do 75% reductions and put their old food on TooGoodToGo.”
Aldi states that perishable products such as fruit and vegetables, bread and meat are discounted by either 30% or 75% before stores close on the day before their use-by date. They also say they donate surplus food which is safe to eat, however it is unclear how or to where the food is given.
The retailer added that some items are unsuitable for donation, such as fresh produce with damaged packaging, or chilled items past their Use By date. However, Lidia argued that the food looked completely fine.
She said: “There was nothing wrong with the food. I would’ve bought some. I told the woman it was really bad but she just walked away and didn’t really say anything. I’ve never seen that amount of waste in Aldi ever.”
Aldi says that their rubbish is disposed of every few days and in this case, the bin had not been emptied for some time. As a result, some of the items in the bin were products that had already been reduced and stayed on shelves until they were no longer safe to be consumed.
Lidia said: “Stuff like this needs to be brought to the attention of somebody. Why is this going on? Why is it still being allowed? It’s dreadful. People can’t afford food. It’s a crying shame that they’re growing these vegetables and just chucking them away. There is no ethics in this.”
An Aldi spokesperson said: “We are committed to reducing food waste as well as working with food distribution organisations to help people in need. Aldi has donated more than 27 million meals to over 3,800 local causes through our partnership with Neighbourly, and we will continue to do everything we can to support the vital services that food distribution organisations provide.”
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