Aldi U.S. Joins Plastics Pact

Aldi U.S., a retailer known for not offering single-use plastic bags and encouraging shoppers to bring reusable bags instead, this week has joined the U.S. Plastics Pact, an initiative aimed at creating a path toward a circular economy for plastics in the U.S. by 2025.

Led by The Recycling Partnership, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the pact will convene more than 60 brands, nongovernmental organizations, government agencies and retailers such as Aldi across the plastics value chain to bring one voice to U.S. packaging through coordinated initiatives and innovative solutions for rethinking products, packaging and business models. Other retailers participating in the initiative include Walmart and Target, along with several CPG brands.

“The global impact of plastics use cannot and should not be ignored by any business,” said Joan Kavanaugh, VP of corporate buying for Batavia, Ill.-Aldi U.S., in a release. “At Aldi, we’ve already begun finding ways to eliminate the plastics we don’t need and are innovating to uncover ways in which the plastics we do need can be kept in the economy and out of the environment—but we want to do even more. We are thrilled to join the U.S. Plastics Pact and look forward to collaborating with its other members to drive action toward large-scale, collective change among the grocery industry and beyond.”

As a founding activator of the U.S. Plastics Pact, Aldi and other members of the pact have agreed to contribute toward the following four goals:

While the U.S. Plastics Pact is complementary to and follows the precedents set by the existing global network of Plastic Pacts, it will be tailored to meet the needs and challenges of the U.S. market.

In addition to the U.S. Plastics Pact, Aldi has committed to making its packaging more sustainable through its focus on recyclability across all operations, overall plastics reduction efforts and supplier partnerships to improve fiber sourcing.