Aldi launches first in-store trial with UK Refill Coalition to reduce plastic waste

Source: Facebook/Unpackaged

The solution – a reusable bulk vessel – has been developed to deliver refills at scale for key food staples (e.g., cereals and pasta) and household products (e.g., cleaning and personal care products) – allowing retailers to sell refill products at a cheaper price than their packaged equivalents.

The Refill Coalition is comprised of Aldi UK, Ocado Retail, and the supply chain solutions company CHEP and was convened in 2020 by GoUnpackaged, the UK’s leading refill experts.

The in-store solution will replace current bulk dispensers in Aldi stores with reusable vessels located at refill stations. Subject to a successful trial, Coalition retailers intend to roll out more refill stations in their stores and online.

According to the global initiative, if every household in the UK refilled just one item per week, it would eliminate over 1.4 billion items of single-use packaging per year.

Whilst supermarkets have done much to reduce plastic packaging, Greenpeace figures estimate that at least 56.5 billion units of single-use plastic packaging are sold by the UK grocery market each year.

Earlier this year, Aldi became the latest retailer to join the UK Refill Coalition’s fight against single-use plastic packaging.

Grocery Gazette