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Person with cotton ball in hand

Cotton

Our Approach

Cotton accounts for the majority of all fibres used in the garments and household textiles offered by ALDI. Whilst cotton is a renewable natural resource that is fully biodegradable, it is also linked to human rights and environmental risks in the countries where it is grown. Together with our business partners, we are committed to standards that achieve long-term sustainable improvements in the cultivation of cotton.

By 2025, all our ALDI-exclusive garments and household textiles products will be of either recycled, sourced or certified according to internationally recognised sustainability standards. We also exclude cotton from countries where cultivation and harvesting are systematically associated with human rights violations in any of our products.

Our Actions

Certification

We want to provide our customers the highest quality at the best possible price. To do this, we use systems with proven reliability and suitability for market-wide implementation. The use of independent third-party certification schemes when buying cotton is one example. These schemes promote social and environmental standards in cotton cultivation and processing.

Textiles

It is important to us that garment and household textiles, which are a regular component of our weekly special buys, are produced in an environmentally and socially sound way. Our goal for the future is to further expand our range of sustainable textiles and create even greater transparency in ALDI’s supply chain.

Most of our textile products are manufactured in production facilities in Asia. Our Corporate Responsibility (CR) team works closely with our textile business partners to support them in the implementation of our CR standards. Additionally, our colleagues based in Hong Kong and Bangladesh are frequently in the production facilities to assess the conditions on the ground. While we strive to improve working conditions in our production facilities, we also look at other stages of our supply chain, from cotton production over spinning to dyeing and finishing of garments.

Launched in 2013, the ALDI Factory Advancement (AFA) Project delivers change in factories that produce our garments in Bangladesh. Its core principle is the promotion of dialogue and cooperation between workers and managers. To date, approximately 85,000 workers and their managers have experienced positive changes in their day-to-day working environment.

Stakeholder Dialogue & Capacity Building

We believe the best way to protect the people and the environment is through joint initiatives and partnerships. For this reason, we engage in various multi-stakeholder initiatives and projects on the ground.

Our CR Performance

Our Goal: We will use 100% sustainable cotton for our own brand garments and household textiles by 2025. 

Sustainable Development Goals

5 Gender equality 8 Decent work and economic growth 12 Responsible consumption and production 13 Climate action 15 Life on land 17 Partnerships for the goals

UNGC

Human Rights

Principle 1

Support and respect the protection of human rights

Principle 2

Not complicit in human rights abuses

Labour

Principle 3

Uphold freedom of association and recognition of right to collective bargaining

Principle 4

Elimination of forced and compulsory labour

Principle 5

Abolition of child labour

Principle 6

Elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation

Environment

Principle 7

Precautionary approach to environmental challenges

Principle 8

Promote environmental responsibility

Principle 9

Development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies

GRI references

GRI 103: Management approach 2016

Global Reporting Initiative 103-1 Global Reporting Initiative 103-2 Global Reporting Initiative 103-3