Aldi has announced a major addition to all its UK stores with the aim of helping customers recycle with greater ease.

The supermarket will be rolling out recycling bins for soft plastics across its stores, helping customers recycle tonnes of problem materials a year. 

A trial last year showed great success, leading to the expansion which will see customers be able to return all types of clean, soft plastic packaging - including crisp packets, salad bags, bread bags and carrier bags – regardless of where the items were bought.

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Aldi launches new recycling bins

The supermarket expects to collect up to 1000 tonnes of plastic a year once the bins are fully installed in over 800 stores nationwide.

The bins will be fully installed by the end of this year.

Most UK local authorities do not currently collect soft plastics, so these collection points will make it easy for customers to recycle their waste.    

Richard Gorman, Plastics and Packaging Director at Aldi UK, said: “We are always striving to reduce plastic waste wherever possible, and we know how important this is to our customers. This rollout is a step in the right direction and provides our shoppers with an easy option to recycle their problematic soft plastic packaging in the UK.

“We hope customers utilise our collection bins to help us make a positive change by recycling more waste.”

Helen Bird, Head of Business Collaboration, WRAP said: “A fifth of the plastic packaging that we’re all left with at home is plastic bags and wrapping. There are opportunities to reduce this, but where plastic is used, packaging design needs to be simplified and recycling systems are needed. In future years, this packaging will be collected directly from people’s homes and places of work, but solutions are urgently needed today to tackle the growing mountain of waste.”

“Many citizens have shown that they are willing to take plastic bags and wrapping to their local food stores for recycling, and this move by Aldi means that more people across the UK will be able to do just that. We have seen trials and regional rollouts of similar schemes by other supermarkets working towards The UK Plastics Pact goal for all plastic packaging to be recyclable by 2025, this move by Aldi is a great achievement and one we fully support.”