Credit: Aldi
It’s no secret that Aldi in the United States has been steadily going green. Over the last several years, the grocer has laid out a number of environmental goals even as it has expanded the number of stores it operates in the United States and elsewhere. Back in 2019, Aldi announced several environmental initiatives, including a goal of 100% of its packaging being reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2025.
Two years later, in 2021, Aldi expanded on those initiatives with a broader eco-friendly vision that included additional goals regarding its shopping bags. While Aldi has never sold single-use plastic bags, the store has sold multi-use plastic bags. In the 2021 charter, Aldi noted that it was piloting the removal of multi-use plastic bags from six stores in Richmond, Virginia.
That pilot was successful enough that, a year later, in the spring of 2022, Aldi announced that it was removing multi-use plastic bags from all of its stores. At that time, the grocer had already removed those plastic bags from 500 stores and said it planned to remove them from all 2,200 stores by the end of 2023.
2023 has come and gone, and with the start of 2024 Aldi says it has met its goal. A few days ago, Aldi issued a pair of press releases — one of them from the company and one of them a letter from the CEO, Jason Hart. Both releases announced that Aldi has eliminated plastic bags from all of its stores. “A landmark moment for the industry,” the company release declared, “the decision to remove plastic shopping bags will prevent nearly 4,400 tons, or nearly nine million pounds of plastic, from going into circulation each year.”
Echoing those numbers, Hart added, “That’s equivalent to 20 Lady Liberty statues! With this important change, we’d like to remind you to bring your own reusable bags whenever you shop at an ALDI store or purchase one of our exclusive reusable bags at checkout. Shopping with a reusable bag is a small but mighty way we can all support a healthier planet.”
In the same press release, Aldi also announced that it was launching a new “industry-leading goal” to transition all of its stores to natural refrigerants by the end of 2035. According to the company press release, the grocer “will deploy a purchasing strategy that incorporates the best refrigerant solution for each region’s distinct climate – including both carbon dioxide and propane refrigerants, two ultra-low Global Warming Potential (GWP) refrigerants.” Aldi plans to purchase these refrigerants starting in 2024, including replacing refrigerants in existing stores.
Has Aldi also eliminated its reusable plastic insulated totes? I usually have oodles of eco-totes in the trunk of my van; however, at most there’s only 1 insulated tote in the trunk, and more are needed for Aldi runs in the summer, when perishables might suffer in uninsulated totes during the 20-mile drive home.
Aldi buys the worst clear plastic bags on a roll in the produce department. After you pull one off a roll you and your cart block the display as the bag will not open at the top, and once you do get it open do not put three bananas in it as they punch a hole in the bag and fall on the floor.
You can purchase produce bags online and take them to the store with you along with your reusable grocery totes. Both are washable.
I have never seen those at our store in Missouri.,Maybe they have already transitioned away from them here.
I drive 45m to town and use a cooler but the insulated bags save my produce
I love Aldi’s insulated totes and use them all the time. They’ve sold some pretty ones in the past and I always get compliments on them, often at Trader Joe’s. Ha! I hope they will be selling them again.