Over 1 million kg of food waste avoided through Aldi partnerships
Retailer eliminates 275 tonnes (275,000 kgs) of food waste from its Irish operations so far in 2023 and sets new ambition to cut 500 tonnes by year end
Print6 June 2023
To mark National Food Waste Recycling Week (6 – 11 June), Aldi has announced that it has avoided 1.2 million kgs of food from going to waste in Ireland through its partnerships to date with both FoodCloud and Too Good To Go, which is the equivalent of 3.8 million kgs of CO2 emissions avoided, or 761 round the world flights.
Since partnering with not-for-profit social enterprise FoodCloud in 2014, Aldi has donated over 1.1 million kgs of surplus food from stores and distribution centres. This equates to 2.7 million meals to local charities through FoodCloud’s network, resulting in 3.7 million kgs of CO2e avoided, which is the equivalent of 740 round the world flights.
Further, since commencing its partnership with Too Good To Go in January 2023, Aldi has already provided 50,000 Surprise Bags. These bags, which retail for just €3.99, contain quality food worth at least €12, including fruit, veg, dairy products, meats, snacks and more that would otherwise go to waste.
In fact, one Surprise Bag equates to 2.5kg CO2e emissions avoided, which is the same as 442 smartphone charges. Since the launch, the retailer has helped to avoid over 106,000kg of CO2e, equating to 21 round the world flight tickets, 236 days of hot showering, or more than 19 million smartphone charges.
Earlier this year, Aldi pledged to eliminate 60 tonnes of food waste from its operations in 2023 in support of the Government’s National Food Waste Prevention Roadmap. Having already surpassed this target, the retailer has set a new ambition as part of National Food Waste Recycling Week to eliminate a total of 500 tonnes of food waste this year. Under the Roadmap, the Government has reaffirmed its commitment to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030.
“During National Food Waste Recycling Week, Aldi is proud to take stock of our efforts in combatting food waste,” said Aldi Ireland corporate responsibility manager, Rachel Nugent. “Through our partners, FoodCloud and Too Good To Go, we are taking meaningful action to cut down on food waste in our logistics chain, while also donating to worthy causes.
“To date, we have saved over one million kilos of food waste since beginning our partnerships, both with FoodCloud since 2014 and with the addition of Too Good To Go this year,” she continued. “As part of our overall sustainability strategy and ambitions, we pledged earlier this year to eliminate 60 tonnes of food waste from our operations in 2023. Having already delivered on this commitment, we look forward to continuing to work with our partners and colleagues to strive towards our new goal of eliminating a total of 500 tonnes this year.”
“It is so encouraging to see large retailers like Aldi taking such a proactive approach towards reducing food waste,” added Rory O’Connell, account manager at FoodCloud. “We are proud to partner with Aldi and, together, build a more equitable, sustainable and caring food system.”
Meanwhile, Sophie Truman, country director at Too Good To Go, added that since partnering with Aldi earlier this year, the team had been “blown away with the response” to its surprise bags.
“So far, more than 50,000 surprise bags have already been picked up by customers at Aldi and our ambition is to grow this even more,” Truman said.
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