Ocean pollution making a difference
AN INNOVATIVE SCHEME HAS STOPPED THE EQUIVALENT OF 10 MILLION PLASTIC BOTTLES FROM ENTERING THE SEA
YOU DON’T NEED to be the next David Attenborough to know that plastic waste finding its way into our oceans is a big issue for the planet. We’ve all heard about the vast floating “islands” of discarded plastic, and contamination from microplastics threatening marine life.
If nothing is done to address the problem, by 2050 it’s estimated that there will be more plastic than fish in the sea.*
It’s easy to feel powerless when faced with such a global problem, but there are steps we can take to help minimise our impact on the planet. One of these is to do our shopping somewhere that’s committed to reducing and improving its plastic use – such as Lidl.
INITIATIVES
Among the initiatives the supermarket has signed up to is Prevented Ocean Plastic. This is a global scheme – in collaboration with recycled plastics distributor Bantam Materials – that involves collecting discarded plastic wise end up in the sea. Developing regions such as this account for 80-90 per cent of the plastic that reaches the oceans*.
The plastic is sorted, cleaned, processed and delivered to desig nated packaging suppliers, who integrate the material in pack aging destined for Lidl.
Already the scheme has helped to prevent the equivalent of 10 million plastic bottles from entering the world’s oceans**.
In 2020 Lidl became the first UK supermarket to include Prevented Ocean Plastic as part of its packaging. It now makes up at least 30 per cent of the plastic † across fresh fish, breaded poultry and prepared fruit. Another initiative that the company has started to implement this year is the replacing of single-use plastic fruit and vegetable bags with compostable
Lidl’s REset Plastic strategy, it’s estimated that this will remove 275 tonnes of conventional single-use plastic compared to the previous year.
Lidl is reducing and reusing plastic in other areas too. For example, it has been working with its suppliers to minimise packaging, reducing total tray weight across poultry by a third compared to last year.
Reducing block cheese packaging by up to 48 per cent has saved a further 35 tonnes of plastic between 2021 and 2022, while the bottle bodies of its ownbrand W5 cleaning sprays are now made from 100 per cent recycled materials.† †
Prevented Ocean Plastic uses discarded plastic collected from beaches in new packaging
SUSTAINABLY
For customers there’s more good news: all these initiatives have not affected the great value Lidl offers, which makes it easier for you to shop more sustainably without it costing the earth. So while you’ve been busy doing your weekly shop at Lidl, you have been using a supermarket that cares about its impact on the planet.