Aldi has removed pulp trays and plastic punnets from various fruit and vegetable lines in hopes of eliminating over 370 tonnes of plastic and packaging yearly across all its stores.
The Nature’s Pick Sliced Mushrooms range from Aldi is already sold without plastic punnets. Now the change will also apply to the Nature’s Pick Cherry Tomatoes range in select stores, with the Baby Plum Tomatoes line soon to follow.
Furthermore, the Nature’s Pick Mango twin pack and Avocado twin pack are no longer sold in pulp trays.
The retailer hopes that each move will cut down on unnecessary packaging and help lower the amount of waste generated from its products.
“At Aldi, we are constantly reviewing ways to reduce excess plastic and packaging, and these trials on a range of our fruit and vegetables are the next steps in helping us achieve our goals,” said Luke Emery, Plastics and Packaging director at Aldi. “Becoming a more sustainable supermarket is important to not only us, but our customers too, and further reducing packaging is just one of many changes to come.”
The announcement comes after Aldi announced its trial to replace plastic packaging for its bananas with a paper band – aiming to eliminate around 234 tonnes of plastic packaging across the UK each year.
In other news, Sainsbury’s has also been redesigning its food packaging to reduce its overall plastic consumption. Earlier this year, it rolled out cardboard punnets for its thirteen own-brand mushroom lines in an effort to save 52 million pieces of plastic annually; and it has recently made a similar transition for its own-brand chicken and fish lines, aiming to reduce its use of plastic by 694 tonnes.
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