A Lichfield supermarket has broken new ground for a national retailer by becoming the first to scrap single-use plastic bags for loose fruit and veg.
Aldi has confirmed the city store will be the first to make the move to introduce reusable drawstring bags instead.
The company says it hopes shoppers will be encouraged to bring their own bags or use the 25p alternative made from recycled bottles.
It will be trialled in 100 stores initially with a view to a national roll-out which bosses say could remove around 109 tonnes of plastic from circulation every year.
If rolled out nationwide, scrapping single-use plastic bags will remove the equivalent of approximately 109 tonnes of plastic from circulation each year.
Fritz Walleczek, managing director of corporate responsibility at Aldi, said:
“We are determined to drastically cut single-use plastic, and evolving our approach to the sale and distribution of bags is an important step forward.
“We’ve charged for carrier bags since opening our first UK store in 1990, so our shoppers are already in the habit of reusing them, but these steps will hopefully help people switch to entirely reusable alternatives.”
Fritz Walleczek, Aldi
Aldi is also putting the price of its flexi-loop ‘bags for life’ up from 9p to 15p from 24th February to encourage shoppers to reuse them.
Bosses say money raised from the price increase will be reinvested in future packaging reduction projects.
