Aldi is set to become the first UK supermarket to remove plastic packaging on multipacks of tinned tuna and replace it with a sustainable alternative.
Later this year, the supermarket has plans to sell four-packs of Tuna Chunks in Brine with a cardboard sleeve, instead of plastic, in over 270 of its stores nationwide.
If the four-month trial is deemed a success, the new recyclable sleeve is expected to be further rolled out and implemented in more than 830 UK stores, which will, in turn, save over eleven tonnes of plastic each year.
As Aldi aspires to phase out all hard-to-recycle-plastics such as undetectable black plastics, PVC and expanded polystyrene by the end of 2020, several other packaging initiatives are scheduled to go to trial over the next few months.
Aldi also plans to launch recyclable coloured ready meal trays, made from recycled bottles and containers, across all its stores. They will initially be used for Aldi’s Inspired Cuisine range, which consists of several meals such as Shepherd’s pie, and have scope to be expanded further. If introduced across all ready meal products, projections estimate the initiative to save around 420 tonnes of non-recyclable black plastic a year.
Moreover, the supermarket intends to make all its own label packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2022, and reduce plastic packaging by 25 percent by the end of 2023.
Report Newfoodmagazine