Aldi will also eliminate the outer plastic packaging of its own-brand tea products
Aldi is set to remove single-use plastic from own-brand tea bags. (Credit: Aldi)
Supermarket chain Aldi has pledged to eliminate around 1.4 billion pieces of single-use plastic from all its own-brand tea bags by the end of this year.
Aldi will replace its oil-based plastic sealing of the tea bags with biodegradable materials, making all tea bags 100% biodegradable.
The UK’s fifth-largest supermarket has also announced plans to eliminate the outer plastic packaging of its own-brand tea products.
The move will help the supermarket chain to avoid entering around 80 tonnes of single-use plastic into landfill each year.
Aldi UK plastics and packaging director Richard Gorman said: “By the end of this year, all of our own-brand tea bags will be biodegradable and contain no plastic whatsoever.
“The changes we’ve made to our tea range will help us reduce our environmental impact and offer our customers even more environmentally-sustainable options when they shop at Aldi.”
Last year, the supermarket chain committed to reducing the volume of plastic packaging it uses to half by 2025. It will help eliminate 74,000 tonnes of plastic packaging from products over the next four years, said Aldi.
The retailer also aims to make its own-label products recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2022, as well as branded products sold at the supermarket by 2025.
In April this year, Aldi started its packaging-free products trail at Ulverston store in Cumbria, England.
The move will allow Aldi to eliminate more than 130 tonnes or more than 21 million pieces of plastic per annum from stores.