Discount Retail Chain Aldi UK (privately owned) has ditched plastic straws from all own private label drinks cartons in a move it says will save 100 tonnes of the material annually.
A new recyclable paper version made from FSC-certified cardboard would see 70 million plastic straws a year removed from circulation, Aldi said.
It follows a similar step announced by Sainsbury’s last week, removing a claimed 18.5 million plastic straws from circulation annually by swapping them for recyclable paper ones on own-label drinks cartons.
Aldi’s move is part of its work towards halving the amount of plastic packaging it uses and making all product packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable by the end of 2025.
“Removing plastic straws from own-brand drinks cartons is another step in our journey to reducing plastic packaging across our products,” said Aldo plastics and packaging director Richard Gorman.
“Our customers want environmentally-friendly products, and plastic straws are one thing in particular that people want to move away from to help make a difference.” Other recent steps by the discounter include switching plastic shrink-wrap on multipack soft drinks cans to cardboard.
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