Batavia, Illinois-based Aldi and Jason Hart, CEO, have issued a letter to customers announcing a new commitment to eliminate all plastic shopping bags from stores by the end of 2023. The company believes this will remove 4,400 tons of plastic from the environment every year.
The full letter from Hart can be found here.
Aldi has already removed plastic shopping bags from nearly 500 stores and is on its way to meet its new goal of phasing them out of all 2,200 locations by the end of 2023. Aldi is the first major U.S. retailer to make this significant move in support of the planet.
Also included in the customer letter was the company’s first Corporate Responsibility Progress Report, just one year after announcing its updated sustainability goals. The report highlights the progress Aldi has made in decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, diverting operational waste and reducing food waste and packaging, while continuing to responsibly source its products and give back to local communities.
Highlights include:
- Progress in packaging: Aldi has reduced its use of plastic and increased the recyclability of its packaging so that more than 62 percent of Aldi-exclusive packaging is reusable, recyclable or compostable.
- Cutting carbon: The company earned more EPA GreenChill store certifications than all grocery retailers in the nation combined for the second year in a row, according to Aldi. For many years, it has been recognized by the EPA for its industry leadership in making refrigeration more sustainable by transitioning to natural refrigerants with near-zero global warming potential. The company continued to purchase green electricity to cover 100 percent of Aldi energy consumption.
- Thinking beyond the bin: Aldi has donated more than 33 million pounds of food through its partnership with Feeding America and 72 thousand pounds of household products through its partnership with Good360. Aldi also diverted 74 percent of operational waste companywide that would otherwise go to landfills through increased donations, recycling programs and composting pilots.
For more information, visit corporate.aldi.us.
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