May 2022

Moving towards more circular packaging: ALDI publishes “ALDI’s International Recyclability Guideline”

As the term “recyclability” is very broadly defined and often interpreted differently, the ALDI SOUTH Group, together with ALDI Nord and the Institute Cyclos HTP, developed “ALDI’s International Recyclability Guideline”. The guideline gives clear recommendations on sustainable packaging design and includes comprehensive insights into 18 ALDI SOUTH and ALDI Nord countries’ recycling infrastructure.

Packaging is an indispensable part of our everyday lives. The responsible management of these valuable resources is playing an increasingly important role to tackle our environmental global challenges. Therefore, ALDI believes it is essential to drive our industry forward and to play a role by moving from a linear to a circular economy, away from incineration and landfilling.

We have set ourselves the ambitious target to have all our own-brand packaging recyclable by the end of 2025 so that we do not lose valuable resources. This is an essential part of our focus area “Resource efficiency” and supports our Vision 2030 of “making sustainability affordable for our customers”.

ALDI has experienced a high demand to bring further clarification to our business partners on requirements for recyclable packaging. Therefore, “ALDI’s International Recyclability Guideline” was created to support our suppliers and buying teams to optimise packaging and simplify communication throughout the supply chain. It provides them with a comprehensive insight into what packaging formats are recyclable in each ALDI market. Additionally, we have made our guideline publicly available in order to share further insight into national specific recyclability systems.

The guideline will also be subject to continuous updates to reflect future technological and regulatory developments.