Aldi UK and Ireland is pledging to reduce operational food waste by 50% by 2030 (benchmarked against 2015) as it becomes part of the Friends of Champions 12.3 network.
This target – which sits within the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals – will be achieved by extending Aldi’s commitments under Courtauld 2025, and measured through Aldi’s commitment to publicly report food waste and progress annually.
Under Friends of Champions 12.3, Aldi will work with the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to engage further with suppliers and third party logistics providers. The retailer also plans to continue to drive its food waste performance throughout its supply chain through furthering its initiatives with current partners FareShare and Company Shop. Since October 2015, Aldi’s suppliers have diverted 2,415 tonnes of surplus from waste, which is the equivalent of 5.75 million meals.
In doing so, the project aims to foster collaboration across the sector by using the tried and tested methods established through the Champions 12.3 network to identify waste hotspots, and sharing findings.
Aldi will be focusing on operational waste in the UK and Ireland via redistribution edible surplus via its charitable initiatives, such as its FareShare and FoodCloud donation programmes. Since the start of 2015, Aldi has donated 1,157 tonnes of food across the UK and Ireland, the equivalent of over 2.8 million meals for vulnerable people.
The commitment will also see Aldi helping customers to reduce food waste in their homes, using initiatives such as Love Food Hate Waste messaging on products, in-store and online.
Oliver King, Managing Director of Corporate Responsibility at Aldi, (pictured) said, “Food waste is one of our sector’s most pressing issues, and reducing it is everyone’s responsibility. By joining this network we hope to work with others in the industry to tackle this collectively by sharing data and resources.”
In 2017, Aldi was ranked the best-performing supermarket for compliance with the Groceries Supply Code of Practice for the fourth consecutive year, underlining its commitment to maintaining fair, predictable and sustainable prices within its supply chain. Through Friends of Champions 12.3 Aldi will further develop its sustainable buying policies to support the reduction of food waste.
Richard Swannell, Development Director at WRAP, said, “With one-third of the world’s food is lost or wasted, costing the global economy $950 billion every year, the food waste challenge is monumental and urgent. The UN SDG goal 12.3 is ambitious and achievable – but only if we set targets, measure and galvanise action from governments, business and citizens from all over the world. We look forward to working with Aldi through the Champions 12.3 network to tackle what is one of the key issues of our generation.”
Dr Liz Goodwin OBE, Senior Fellow and Director of Food Loss and Waste at the World Resources Institute (WRI), said, ‘The challenge of tackling global food loss and waste is something we all need to work on and it’s good to see Aldi recognising the role they can play. We need more companies to set targets consistent with UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3, to measure and report, and then take action to reduce food loss and waste.’