Aldi U.K. own brand cereal packaging goes fully recyclable

Aldi U.K. announced its own brand cereal packaging will soon be 100% recyclable and that includes the plastic inner bags holding the cereal — a recyclable alternative material for that plastic bag will be incorporated before the end of the year, the retailer said.

The packaging move is part of Aldi’s continuing pledge to make all of its own brand packaging be recyclable, compostable or reusable by the end of 2022, and for all packaging to be the same by 2025.

The fully recyclable store brand cereal packages will replace approximately 650 tonnes of non-recyclable plastic annually — the equivalent to the amount of packaging used by more than 10,000 U.K. households in a year.

“Making such a popular product range fully recyclable will have a huge positive impact. Our focus is to offer quality at the lowest price on the market, and we believe that means more than simply offering great products — we have to provide customers with environmentally sustainable options they can afford too,” said Chris McKenry, plastics and packaging director, Aldi. “We’ve set ambitious targets to reduce our environmental impact and will continue to step up our efforts to achieve them. This change to our cereal range is just one of a number of initiatives we have in the pipeline that will help us to reach our goal of all packaging, including branded products, being recyclable, compostable or reusable in the next five years.”

Stateside, Aldi U.S.  has similar sustainability goals, including a pledge to make 100% of its private label packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025, while cutting packing materials for those products by 15% over the same period.

Giles Hurley, Aldi U.K.’s CEO, in February, first made it clear to suppliers that there would be packaging targets to meet and this cereal initiative is just another example of how serious the retailer is about the commitment. 

In July, Aldi committed to removing two billion single items of plastic from its operations by the end of 2025 and has recently introduced several plastic saving initiatives, including the removal of single-use bags for loose fruit and vegetables across its U.K. stores by the end of the year, which will save more than 100 tonnes of plastic annually.