Aldi has removed all single-use cutlery from its Food to Go range in a bid to remove 10.5 million wooden forks from circulation.
The move, which will be made effective in all UK stores, will help the supermarket make a significant reduction on the single-use items which are currently used in its pasta and salad takeaways.
Customers are instead being encouraged to use reusable options as a permanent replacement in a bid to reduce their environmental impact.
Aldi plastics and packaging director Luke Emery said the supermarket is “constantly reviewing ways to become more environmentally friendly.”
“This will result in a significant reduction in single use materials and help customers to make more environmentally friendly choices,” he added.
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The move comes following Aldi’s switch to colourless milk caps across all its 990 UK stores in a bid to further improve the recyclability of the bottles. The roll out will mean a further 200 tonnes of High-Density Polythene (rHDPE) in the bottle tops can be reused to create new milk bottles.
Time to say goodbye to single-use cutlery?
Almost one in four (37%) Brits want to stop the sale of single use plastic, according to a Hello Hydrogen survey of 2000 people.
Speaking to Circular, a spokesperson for Hello Hydrogen said: “From the end of single-use plastics and fast fashion to eradicating fossil fuels, it’s clear to see from the study, that the environment is important to modern Brits.”
The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has also introduced a new law calling on businesses to no longer sell certain single use items, including single-use cutlery and polystyrene food and drink containers due to begin in October.
In total people in England use around 2.7 billion items of single-use cutlery alone, but only around 10% of the items are recycled.
