ALDI France: working towards optimised packaging and reduced energy consumption

The main focus of ALDI France’s sustainability work has been to reduce and optimise packaging through various projects and to cut down energy consumption.

In 2023, the focus for greater sustainability at ALDI France was on more sustainable packaging and savings in energy consumption.

Two packaging projects were pursued in France during the course of 2023. The impact of our sourcing, bleaching, and printing was reduced by establishing new requirements for our shelf-ready packaging cardboard. These measures included FSC certification, chlorine-free bleaching, acrylic varnish, and minimum print rate. This action also improved recyclability. These requirements were shared with our supplier in late 2023 for deployment in 2024. Our second packaging project created new criteria for our fresh meat and fish core product trays with a maximum tray size to reduce plastic use. We also banned non-recyclable materials such as polystyrene and multi-material, and removed black carbon from our fresh beef trays. The new specifications were communicated to our suppliers at the end of 2023 in time for new contracts in 2024.

From 2022 until 2023, ALDI France implemented measures to reduce energy consumption. We have been working on three areas of improvement: reducing energy consumption without disrupting operations, increasing electricity generation and associated energy autonomy in stores and warehouses, and optimising energy purchases of electricity and gas. Some measures were already implemented such as optimisation of lighting times, installation of occupancy sensors, and improved maintenance services for energy-intensive equipment.

An internal audit was conducted in cooperation with an external party to reduce our food waste. In addition to donating surplus food to national and local NGOs, some regions have established partnerships for recycling and recovery.