Aldi is doing away with plastic

We are constantly horrified at the amount of garbage we generate as a two person family.
I shop in Lidl mainly and can’t say that our fruit and veg produce much plastic waste apart from cling film round the broccoli, mesh bags for the garlic and onions and plastic bags for carrots and potatoes.

Of course it’s good news when any supermarket commits to doing better on environmental issues, but it looks as though Aldi are just playing catch-up. At the end of last year, Greenpeace ranked supermarkets in order of what the were doing by way of:

1 Promises made on reduction and reuse
2 Future plans on reduction and reuse
3 Recyclability and recycled content
4 Influencing suppliers
5 Transparency

Aldi was at the bottom of the pile.

Well they should be at the top soon then they obviously learnt by their poor ratings

The plastic bags and wrappings are not the only items that contain the dreaded plastic

They'll need to stop selling chewing gum, clothing (if they sell any), disposable cups, drinks in cans, glass jars with lids, glitter/glittery items/toys/, Corn-Based Biodegradable Packaging, produce stickers, Tea bags, tetra paks and Tin/Aluminium Cans.

And goodness only knows what else. Fixtures and fittings. The list is endless.

Staff's uniform

They all have poor ratings. My own view is that it’d be better if they worked together to find solutions.

I shopped at Aldi back in the early 70s when I lived in Germany. They sold their goods out of cardboard and wooden boxes and you’d to take your own bags. What little plastic waste there was could be left for recycling at the exit.

Supermarkets have come a long way since then, but not always in the right direction.

Hooray to this news!

Sainsburys have got re-usable bags for their veggies & fruit.
Really useful- I have several now.

Sorry should have added Material bags!

Oopsminty I didn’t say they were cutting out ALL plastic I said their fruit and veg which I think is a big improvement for a starter

I don't want to look round my kitchen and count the things that are or contain plastic based materials. Not taking into account the car, electric appliances, bedroom sheets and duvets, so many ordinary household items the mind boggles.

Oopsminty. Why would they need to stop selling the things on your list.? Our council collects bottles ,tetra packs, cans aerosols, Plastic milk cartons. and supermarket trays. All in one recycling bag. We now have to separate out paper and cardboard into new blue bins

Well done Aldi, on this important initiative.

The plastic that is wasted in supermarkets is ridiculous.

Milest0ne

Oopsminty. Why would they need to stop selling the things on your list.? Our council collects bottles ,tetra packs, cans aerosols, Plastic milk cartons. and supermarket trays. All in one recycling bag. We now have to separate out paper and cardboard into new blue bins

They are all made with plastic, Milest0ne

Plastic that isn't going away. Just because your council collects it doesn't mean it disappears.

By your logic why bother stopping plastic in wrapping etc etc? You can just pop it in your new blue (plastic) bin!

The mind indeed does boggle, nipsmum

A new entrance into the endless plastic swamping of our planet is disposable masks.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-54057799

I'd be interested to know how much of the plastic is recycled for use by supermarkets. For instance, Sainsbury's is selling eggs in plastic boxes at the moment, instead of the mashed-up paper ones. I was surprised, because Sainsbury's tends to present itself as an eco-conscious organisation.
What also concerns me about supermarkets is the enormous amount of cheap plastic clothing they sell. Of course I'm glad that poor kids aren't dressed in rags but we must find a way to reduce the mountain of plastic textiles.

BlueBelle

Oopsminty I didn’t say they were cutting out ALL plastic I said their fruit and veg which I think is a big improvement for a starter

The title of your thread said exactly that!

Well, at least it is a start.

As yet Lidl and the Co-op are the only supermarkets that sell some vegetables and fruit in loose weight and baked items in paper bags.

It just takes 1 supermarket to be brave enough to do this. I hope all the others follow suit. As a child I was sent to the corner shop with a list and shopping bag and all fruit and vegetables went, unwrapped, in the bag. Amazingly, none of us died. Stop wrapping everything and ditch the carrier bags. Recyclable paper bags only. We must start doing instead of dithering.

Oh come on Oopsminty splitting hairs here I m sure you read the next bit it was very brief and to the point

What do you think we as people can do if you are putting down all the small measures starting to be made You re not happy with my little bit of news noR the councils recycling Program so what’s your plans ?

Milest0ne

Oopsminty. Why would they need to stop selling the things on your list.? Our council collects bottles ,tetra packs, cans aerosols, Plastic milk cartons. and supermarket trays. All in one recycling bag. We now have to separate out paper and cardboard into new blue bins

Because recycling in itself uses up resources. It’s a good thing, but it’s far better to avoid accumulating this stuff in the first place. Some packaging will always be necessary, but we can make choices in some areas that make a huge difference. Buying your fruit and veg loose from a local shop, using your own bags, going to refill shops if you have one nearby, getting your milk in reusable glass bottles, instead of in plastic. Some people will genuinely be unable to afford the higher cost of some of these things, but for most of us it’s a case of whether we care enough to pay the difference.

BlueBelle

Oh come on Oopsminty splitting hairs here I m sure you read the next bit it was very brief and to the point

What do you think we as people can do if you are putting down all the small measures starting to be made You re not happy with my little bit of news noR the councils recycling Program so what’s your plans ?

I have no plans, BlueBelle There's no way to put this genie back in the bottle

But I am not going to get excited when massive supermarkets come out with claims that they're helping the environment when they're not. They just have their eye on good publicity/more money.

We are stuck with plastic. We apparently eat 50.000 plastic particles a year!

www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/05/people-eat-at-least-50000-plastic-particles-a-year-study-finds

It's not going away.

This is brilliant news. I shop at Aldi and always have to have my kitchen bin open for the amount of plastic and wrapping I have to throw away. I did write to them about 2 years ago and said their goods were excellent for pricing and variety but dreadful for the packing.

I welcome any steps to reduce waste and pollution. One statement that stuck out to me, only because I've thought it myself, is how there wasn't so much plastic in use when I was young. Now I want my single croissant wrapped instead of lying there on the shelf open to everyone's fingers, cough and sneezes. I won't buy them now and miss my treat. Years ago we went into a shop and we were 'served', items were under covers and limited numbers of hands touch the goods which in theory should have cut down on the chances of germ transmissions.

I don't know why everyone thinks replacing plastic bags with paper ones is a good idea. Trees are a finite resource and for every tree which is cut down, that's less oxygen produced for every creature on the planet to use!!! We'll reach the tipping point in the not so distant future so no need to worry about flu, we 'll all be gasping for air to breathe if the human race isn't curtailed soon.