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Aldi trials soft plastic recycling

Words by Smiley Team

Helping customers recycle plastic items that usually get binned, Aldi is trialing its first network of recycling stations for soft plastics in some of its stores in the North of England and East Midlands.

The UK’s fifth-largest supermarket is introducing the new bins to 20 of its shops across Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Greater Manchester. This will allow customers to tackle plastic waste, sustainably disposing of soft plastic items such as crisp packets, which don’t usually get recycled.

“We know our customers are environmentally conscious, and as a responsible retailer, we are always striving to reduce plastic waste wherever possible,” said Richard Gorman, plastics and packaging director at Aldi UK. “Our latest trial is another step in the right direction, as we work towards being able to offer shoppers an option to bring back to our stores problem plastic that might not be recycled by their local councils.”

 

A recycling reject

The vast majority of councils across the country do not recycle soft plastics, meaning that the bins offer customers a rare opportunity to recycle plastic items such as crisp packets, salad bags, bread bags and carrier bags – regardless of where they purchased the items. 

Engagement manager at recycling not-for-profit WRAP, Helen Bird,said: “While plastic bags and wrapping makes up around a fifth of consumer plastic packaging, only six per cent of it is recycled. UK Plastics Pact members, representing the vast majority of plastic packaging sold by supermarkets, have committed for all of it to be recyclable by 2025.

“In future years local authorities will collect this material for recycling, but in the meantime supermarkets are able to provide recycling points for plastic bags and wrapping to the many citizens who want to recycle all that they can. It’s great to see Aldi trialling how this can be achieved.”

The supermarket will collaborate with its recycling partner to establish the best means of processing the plastics.  

 

Next steps for recycling            

Depending on the trial’s success, Aldi will introduce the recycling bins to all its 900 UK stores, spreading the potential for tackling soft plastic waste.

“We will be monitoring the trial closely, and we hope that customers utilise our collection bins so that we can look at expanding this into more stores,” added Gorman.

The trial is the latest step taken by the supermarket towards its goal of making 100 per cent of its own-label packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2022.

The move comes after Tesco started rolling out recycling points for soft plastics earlier this year. Initially creating recycling points in 171 stores across South West England and Wales, the supermarket plans to then expand the initiative across the country.

Tesco introduced the recycling points after a 10-store trial in which customers exceeded expectations, returning more than 10 times the predicted amount of plastic. The waste plastic already collected has been used to manufacture food-grade packaging for a variety of Tesco cheeses.

 

 

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