Now Aldi backs Mail’s calls for plastic bottle deposit scheme
BRITAIN’S fastest- growing supermarket is backing the introduction of a plastic bottle deposit scheme and is to stop selling 5p throwaway bags.
Aldi has joined the Daily Mail and supermarket rivals Tesco, the Co-op and Iceland in calling for the deposit and return scheme (DRS).
It would mean customers could put bottles and cans into machines at stores and receive vouchers to redeem at tills.
Plastic bottle collection and recycling in the UK has stalled at less than 60 per cent, compared to more than 90 per cent in countries which have DRS.
Bottle deposits will also help tackle litter amid claims that as many as 700,000 are dropped in streets, parks and on beaches every day.
Aldi’s decision to stop offering 5p bags at tills will cut the number in circulation by 67 million a year.
Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s have already announced they will no longer sell the 5p bags in a move towards re-usable bags for life.
Aldi UK chief executive Matthew Barnes said the company was keen to help customers ‘lead healthier, better lives’.
He added: ‘ That includes reducing waste, particularly around unnecessary packaging and plastics that damage the environment we live in.
‘ While we cannot do this alone – and call on others to collaborate with us and others to drive change industry-wide – we are committed to doing all we can to lead the way.’
It came as Sir David Attenborough said he was relieved the world has ‘woken up’ to the ‘impending disaster’ regarding plastic pollution.
The veteran broadcaster said he thought the world had taken a ‘first essential step’ in addressing the scale of the problem, and he is confident improvements can be made.
However, he warned that there needs to be global agreement on what action needs to be taken, and that it will be an ‘enormous’ undertaking.
Sir David, 91, told an audience at the Natural History Museum: ‘The world has woken up to the danger, and that is the first essential step. Once everybody around the world is convinced of this impending disaster, I think people can do something about it.
‘ The job is enormous, of course. But all the signs are that people worldwide are saying “yes, we are killing the ocean; yes, we do impact on the ocean; and, yes, we will do something about it”.’
Asked how he thought individuals could help tackle the issue, he said: ‘We could stop using plastic that we don’t need to, for a start. People use plastic without thought. There are extraordinary useless things that we do with plastic.’