Lidl Parent Schwarz Group Sets New Recycling Target

As part of its Road to Zero Waste initiative, the group aims to implement this new sustainability goal across all divisions of its companies and in every target country, ESM reports.

To support this, all retail locations are set to be independently certified according to DIN SPEC 91436, a standardised method for assessing a retailer’s carbon footprint.

Schwarz Group emphasised the importance of proper waste separation, to ensure materials can be reused.

The 95% target will not include waste from Schwarz Group’s recycling and disposal facilities, nor construction waste.

In addition, the company will deliberately exclude thermal recovery of in-house waste as an acceptable method.

‘REset Resources’

The target forms part of Schwarz Group’s holistic circular-economy strategy, REset Resources.

The company generated and recycled more than three million tonnes of waste across its operations in its 2024 financial year.

Its retailers have also committed to REcollect, part of REset Resources, and aim to collect and recycle the same volume of recyclables as used in their own-brand products and commercial leaflets by 2030.

PreZero

PreZero, Schwarz Group’s environmental division, also offers support to external companies in pursuing their own road-to-zero-waste commitments, following the company’s strategy.

The group highlighted its broader goal of strengthening Europe’s resource sovereignty.

Susanne Marell, a divisional board member of Schwarz Group’s corporate affairs, said, “With our ambitious goal of the Road to Zero Waste, we are further expanding our pioneering position in the field of circular economy and resource conservation.

“We are demonstrating clearly and measurably that the circular economy works and is without alternative.”