Aldi UK, UK, increased its efforts to reduce plastic waste by introducing fully recyclable pizza discs across its entire range.

These 100% recyclable discs are made from cardboard instead of polystyrene. Alongside this, without reducing the size of the pizza, Aldi is making its Thin & Crispy pizza cartons smaller, cutting the amount of cardboard the supermarket uses by 73 tons a year. 

The change will remove 180 tons of plastic from circulation annually that could otherwise end up in landfill. It will also mean nearly 500 fewer trucks a year are needed to transport the waste. 

“Polystyrene pizza discs are a serial offender when it comes to waste packaging, so it’s important that we tackle this issue directly. This move is one part of a much larger campaign to reduce our environmental impact wherever possible – be that food waste, packaging or emissions,” says Fritz Walleczek, managing director of corporate responsibility. “Introducing recyclable pizza discs across our entire range is another step toward our aim for all product packaging to be 100% recyclable by 2025.”

In 2018, Aldi announced a 10-point plastics and packaging pledge that will scrap all single-use plastic bags by the end of 2019 and ensure all own-label product packaging is fully recyclable by 2022. This is in line with certifications approved by Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP), Arlington, Va.

Since then it has made a range of changes to packaging that will together save more than 2,000 tons of plastic waste a year. Examples include replacing black plastic packaging for clear, recyclable versions on all cooked sliced meats and on a range of fruit and vegetables.