Aldi UK removes plastic straws from own brand drink cartons

Aldi UK has taken another step forward within its sustainability goals, announcing it would be removing all plastic straws from its store brand drink cartons. The products will be replaced with a paper straw that is fully recyclable and made from FSC-certified cardboard.

The retailer said the initiative will help remove 70 million plastic straws from circulation. 

“Removing plastic straws from own brand drinks cartons is another step in our journey to reducing plastic packaging across our products,” said Richard Gorman, plastics and packaging director, Aldi UK. “Our customers want environmentally-friendly products, and plastic straws are one thing, in particular, that people want to move away from to help make a difference.”

On a quest to halve the amount of plastic packaging it uses by 2025, Aldi UK’s straw removal helps further the goal, joining recent initiatives such as removing plastic packaging from its entire egg range in England and Wales and switching plastic shrink-wrap on multipack soft drinks cans to cardboard.

Aldi UK said the retailer is on track to make all of its product packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable by the end of 2025. The United States arm of the retailer is on track with the same goal, according to its recent sustainability update.