Aldi removes plastic shopping bags, pivots to natural refrigerants

Aldi announced January 10 its U.S. stores have stopped offering plastic shopping bags, closing out a pledge it announced back in 2022.

The discounter said it will also transition to natural refrigerants by the end of 2035. The company has met its goal of eliminating plastic shopping bags across its fleet of more than 2,300 U.S. stores by the end of 2023 — a move that will prevent nearly 4,400 tons, roughly 9 million pounds, of plastic from going to landfills annually, per the announcement.

Starting this year, the company is planning to buy environmentally friendly refrigerants for all of its new and remodeled stores as well as replace refrigerants in existing stores with ones that have low global warming potential. The grocer’s natural refrigerants transition goal follows the company’s implementation of environmentally friendly refrigerants in more than 600 stores, which has helped save nearly 60% of potential carbon emissions each year.

The two efforts aim to build on the discount grocer’s sustainability moves as the grocery industry ramps up its planet-focused work.

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