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Source: Aldi

The new bags are made from recycled plastic bottles and will cost 25p each

Aldi is introducing reusable bags for loose fruit & veg in its latest effort to cut down on single-use plastic.

The drawstring bags will be in 250 stores from the end of November, providing customers with an alternative to single-use plastic fruit & veg bags. The new bags are made from recycled plastic bottles and will cost 25p each.

In some of the 250 stores the single-use option will be removed, while in others the two types of bag will both be available as Aldi monitors customer feedback.

Offering only the drawstring one across Aldi’s 840-store UK estate would save 113 tonnes of single-use plastic a year, according to the discounter.

The trial is part of Aldi’s effort to reduce plastic packaging by 25% by the end of 2023.

It follows a similar move from Lidl, which introduced reusable drawstring fruit & veg bags in stores nationwide in August this year.

“We are committed to cutting the amount of plastic that Aldi and our customers use, particularly excess or single-use plastic like produce bags,” said Aldi MD of corporate responsibility Fritz Walleczek.

“It is a long journey, but every little step like this brings us closer to our target of cutting the amount of plastic we use in packaging by 25%.

“We are hopeful that our customers will embrace these new reusable produce bags whenever they’re buying loose fruit & veg and, together, we will be able to take more than 100 tonnes of plastic a year out of circulation.”

Aldi said it was on track to fulfil a pledge it made last year to make all own-label packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2022. Earlier this year, the supermarket launched a trial of paper and compostable carrier bags.