Aldi tells shoppers of change affecting more than 800 UK stores

Aldi is rolling out a change affecting most of its stores. The discount supermarket is bringing in more recycling bins for soft plastics.

It follows a trial last year that saw customers returning all types of clean, soft plastic packaging. These can include crisp packets, bread bags, carrier bags and salad bags - no matter where they were bought.

Aldi said it expects to collect up to 1,000 tonnes of plastic a year once the bins are fully installed in over 800 stores nationwide, which will be complete by the end of this year. It said most UK local authorities do not currently collect soft plastics, so these collection points will make it easy for customers to recycle their waste.

Richard Gorman, plastics and packaging director at Aldi UK, said: “We are always striving to reduce plastic waste wherever possible, and we know how important this is to our customers. This rollout is a step in the right direction and provides our shoppers with an easy option to recycle their problematic soft plastic packaging in the UK.

“We hope customers utilise our collection bins to help us make a positive change by recycling more waste.”

The new recycling bins that customers will be seeing at most Aldi stores (Aldi)

Helen Bird, head of business collaboration, WRAP said: “A fifth of the plastic packaging that we’re all left with at home is plastic bags and wrapping. There are opportunities to reduce this, but where plastic is used, packaging design needs to be simplified and recycling systems are needed.

In future years, this packaging will be collected directly from people’s homes and places of work, but solutions are urgently needed today to tackle the growing mountain of waste.”

“Many citizens have shown that they are willing to take plastic bags and wrapping to their local food stores for recycling, and this move by Aldi means that more people across the UK will be able to do just that. We have seen trials and regional roll outs of similar schemes by other supermarkets working towards The UK Plastics Pact goal for all plastic packaging to be recyclable by 2025, this move by Aldi is a great achievement and one we fully support.”