- Supermarkets haven’t shown significant action in reducing plastic packaging
- More than 80% of respondents to federal government’s consultation on packaging laws want the government to regulate packaging
Aldi Australia is now officially the worst of the major supermarkets in demonstrating efforts to cut plastic packaging use and accountability, the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) can confirm after Aldi finally released its latest sustainability report.
AMCS released the Unwrapped 2024 audit of Plastic Use in Australian Supermarkets in November 2024 without an overall score for Aldi because it had still not published its 2023 sustainability results 11 months after its reporting period ended. Woolworths, Coles and Metcash all reported within three months of their reporting periods ending.
AMCS has now been able to finalise Aldi’s score and given it 16%, finishing last in the 2024 audit report – a disappointing performance considering it led the field in our first audit in the previous year. Woolworths came first in 2024 with 38%, followed by Metcash with 23% and Coles at 20%.
AMCS Plastics and Packaging Program Manager Tara Jones said: “Aldi once led Australia’s supermarkets in reducing plastic packaging and publishing information on its plastic packaging use, so it’s disappointing that it has fallen behind the rest of the field so quickly.
“The low scores in our audit show that supermarkets have much work to do to cut down on plastic use, so any drop in score is alarming. Woolworths, Coles and Metcash all improved their scores, albeit slowly, but Aldi is notable for going backwards. This clearly shows that the Australian Government must urgently deliver on its promise to reform our packaging legislation – which more than 80% of submissions to its recent consultation said was needed.
“In 2019 Aldi published data on its plastic packaging use in its own brand products and in logistics, alongside a target of reducing plastic packaging by 25% by 2025. But in every subsequent sustainability report Aldi has provided less and less information, with its latest sustainability report giving us no information on which to calculate its plastic use, or if it had cut its overall use.
“Up until 2023, Aldi was reporting against this reduction target, so it’s disappointing that the supermarket no longer discloses its packaging footprint, or what actions, if any, it’s taking to reach this reduction target. Aldi is not being transparent even to its customers that it’s seriously committed to reducing plastic packaging.
“Aldi justifies its new lack of transparency on the same unproven mantra the other supermarkets use – that packaging reduces food waste – despite evidence suggesting packaging does not improve shelf life of fresh produce.
“Since Aldi released its 2023 sustainability report in December 2024, it has not responded to our requests for further details. From the little information available in its sustainability report, we found no evidence of Aldi cutting its overall plastic use, scoring the lowest of all supermarkets against this criteria with 21%, while Woolworths scored 33%, Metcash 30% and Coles 27%. Aldi needs to lift its game in cutting plastic packaging and improve reporting on its actions to cut plastic.
“We know supermarkets can be fully transparent and we hope that they will improve this year and that we will clearly see their efforts to cut plastic use.
“Australian supermarkets lag behind those in other nations, such as the United Kingdom, where some supermarkets transparently report on their use of plastic packaging. Industry has shown it can’t be trusted to voluntarily cut its plastic packaging use, and our oceans and marine life are paying the price.”