An environmentally conscious workplace: ALDI becomes even more sustainable with automatic water dispensers

Automatic water dispenser (Photo: ALDI Magyarország)

ALDI Hungary is committed to protecting the environment, and in recent years has already introduced a number of measures in order to keep the carbon footprint of its operations as small as possible. The company’s “Skip. To reuse. Recycle.” in the spirit of its slogan, it consciously reduces its use of packaging materials. At its stores, it creates the opportunity for its customers to drop off used batteries or used cooking oil, for example, and it also selectively collects its own packaging materials. The company, which has been using green electricity since 2017, operates carbon-neutral as of 2018, as it offsets its greenhouse gas emissions from operational operations by supporting climate protection projects. The department store chain provides charging options for users of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles at its 93 stores in 16 counties with the help of 143 e-chargers installed by the E.ON Hungária Group in ALDI parking lots

The company pays special attention to the mental and physical health of its employees

As part of health care, it regularly distributes vitamins to its employees, organizes free screening tests, and provides its employees with fresh vegetables, fruits and a variety of hot and cold refreshments, as well as its own brand of mineral water. However, the mineral water offered as a protective drink has caused a significant environmental burden, as more than 800,000 plastic bottles of waste have been generated in stores every year. The empty bottles were recycled thanks to selective collection.

In order to eliminate the environmental burden caused by plastic bottles, the company already installed water dispensers in its logistics center in Biatorbágy in 2015.

For two years now, office workers have also been able to drink high-quality, unlimited quantities of filtered tap water instead of bottled mineral water. By using automatic water dispensers, ALDI has saved more than 1,000,000 plastic bottles in its logistics center and office building over the past 7 years. As a result of the current decision, the company will in the future install the same automatic water dispensers that offer filtered tap water connected to the mains water network for the employees working in its stores. In addition to being an affordable and environmentally friendly protective drink, filtered, chilled tap water – which is also available in carbonated form – has the additional advantage that the storage of full and empty bottles does not take up valuable space in the workplace, or the carbon footprint resulting from the failure to recycle the 800,000 bottles per year savings are also significant. Water dispensers actively contribute to the responsible treatment of environmental resources, to the reduction of plastic waste and the carbon footprint. The store employees, like the logistics workers, receive BPA-free water bottles made of recycled plastic, which can be used to ensure hygienic water consumption without the generation of additional plastic or other waste.

It is extremely important for ALDI to keep the impact of its activities on the environment as low as possible and to introduce sustainable, innovative solutions

Last year, it installed solar systems in 16 more stores, installed free used cooking oil dispensers in more than 100 stores, expanded the number of e-chargers, and was the first of the national chains to put an e-truck into daily circulation. In the Store of the Year competition, among the sector’s environmental protection measures, ALDI’s activities were found to be the most outstanding, so for two consecutive years, after 2021 and in 2022, ALDI was awarded the Environmentally Conscious Retailer of the Year award.