According to our CR Principles, the ALDI SOUTH Group is striving to be a carbon-neutral company. Following a significant reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the use of renewable energy across the Group, several ALDI SOUTH countries are climate neutral. Carbon offsets make up for the rest by funding environmental projects.

To continue to deliver against our broader climate target, we are supporting an environmentally-focused project.

Fight against plastic in the Philippines, Indonesia, Brazil and Haiti

Over 8 million tonnes of plastic waste flows into the ocean each year - the equivalent of one truckload per minute. ‘Plastic Bank’ fights against the increasing amount of plastic in the world‘s oceans by offering money for plastic. The plastic is then recycled and turned into new products. At the same time, a wind farm project in the Philippines is supported to realize the actual reduction of carbon emissions.

Copyright: Climate Partner

In 2019, Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) and the local cotton company SAN-JFS developed a recycling project in Mozambique. This project supports women from local farming communities who operate eco-collection points. Over 72,000 empty pesticide containers were collected and sent for recycling in the first year and benefitted up to 20,000 farmers. With the exclusive support of ALDI, the project is able to continue into a second phase and benefit even more farmers.

© Cotton made in Africa

The Digital Watermarks Initiative HolyGrail 2.0, driven by AIM - European Brands Association and powered by the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, is a pilot project with the objective to prove the technical viability of digital watermarks for accurate sorting of packaging waste as well as the economic viability of the business case at large-scale. Digital watermarks are imperceptible codes, the size of a postage stamp, covering the surface of a consumer goods packaging and carrying a wide range of attributes. ALDI joined the initiative in 2022.

The aim is that once the packaging has entered into a waste sorting facility, the digital watermark can be detected and decoded by a high-resolution camera on the sorting line, which then – based on the transferred attributes (e.g. food vs non-food) – is able to sort the packaging in corresponding streams. This would result in better and more accurate sorting streams, thus consequently in higher quality recyclates benefitting the complete packaging value chain.

In 2021, the ALDI SOUTH Group became a member of The Consumer Goods Forum (“CGF”) Coalition of Action on Plastic Waste. The Coalition was founded in 2020 with the aim of developing a more circular approach to the development and processing of plastic packaging in the consumer goods industry.

As a CEO-led group of 36 committed and innovative retailers and manufacturers, the Coalition’s vision of accelerating progress towards the New Plastics Economy is embodied by its central aims for members to work towards implementing impactful measures through multi-stakeholder collaborations that will help make circularity the norm in the industry.

© The Consumer Goods Forum

RecyClass is a comprehensive cross-industry initiative that works to advance plastic packaging recyclability and to establish a harmonized approach towards recycled content calculation and its traceability in Europe. Activities within RecyClass include the development of Recyclability Evaluation Protocols and scientific testing methods for innovative materials which serve as the base for the Design for Recycling Guidelines and the Recycling Online Tool. RecyClass offers Recyclability Certifications for plastic packaging and Recycled Content Traceability Certification for plastic products. ALDI joined the initiative in 2022.