Hard work pays off: ALDI publishes its final Detox Report
ALDI SOUTH and ALDI Nord have published their joint “ALDI Detox Report 2020”, which marks the conclusion of the ALDI Detox Commitment after five years of intense work. The report highlights their progress in areas such as chemical management and supply chain transparency, which was achieved in close collaboration with business partners and stakeholders.
In 2015, the ALDI SOUTH Group and ALDI Nord joined 80 international fashion retailers by signing up to the Greenpeace Detox Commitment, a campaign focused on eliminating hazardous chemicals from textile and shoe supply chains. The recently published “ALDI Detox Report 2020” summarises ALDI’s five-year detox journey and gives comprehensive insight into the actions taken to meet their commitment.
“We know that our everyday decisions have implications for the entire value chain and we are aware of our responsibility - this has never been truer than in our commitment to improving environmental performance.”
Anke Ehlers, Managing Director of Corporate Responsibility International at the ALDI SOUTH Group
Major achievements: focus on six strategic areas
ALDI’s detox strategy focuses on six areas: Chemical Management, Supply Chain Management, Data Management, Training, Stakeholder Dialogue, and Systemic Change. By significantly increasing transparency, ALDI has driven improvements across all tiers in the supply chain, and fast-tracked systemic changes to reduce the environmental footprint of textiles and shoes. Major achievements include implementing a successful system to eliminate hazardous chemicals from supply chains, aligning the parameters for wastewater and sludge with industry-wide standards, and switching to more sustainable materials such as waterborne polyurethane (PU) and sustainable cotton.
“Our successes result from working with business partners and industry-wide initiatives. We overcame challenges by joining working groups and coming together to make the greatest impact.”
Christoph Georgius, Business Unit Director Corporate Responsibility/Quality Assurance International at ALDI Nord
ALDI is setting future goals
Building on solid achievements and a wealth of experience, ALDI is implementing further standards and increasing collaborations to achieve new goals. The key areas for 2020 and beyond are to use 100% sustainable cotton by 2025, to focus on countries and production facilities with the highest risks and to expand capacity-building programmes to help suppliers become more self-reliant. Internal and external trainings, webinars and workshop are already being implemented, such as the “Advanced Chemical Management Trainings” in Bangladesh and China.
You can find the final “ALDI Detox Report 2020” here. Further information regarding our engagement in the field of textiles can also be found here: Detox
