It’s been an awards-laden year for ALDI Ireland, whose industry-leading efforts in the vitally-important area of sustainability were recognised at both the 2022 Lean Business Awards and the 2022 Green Awards, where the conscientious discounter was named Lean Leadership winner and Green Retailer of the Year respectively, much to the delight of managing director Niall O’Connor.
ALDI Ireland takes its environmental responsibilities very seriously, developing a series of major initiatives in recent years which have seen it consistently recognised by its peers as a proven leader in sustainability.
In September, ALDI Ireland received the award for ‘Lean Leadership’ at the Lean Business Awards 2022 at Croke Park, in recognition of the fantastic strides made in sustainability across both operational and energy efficiency – and driving further improvements over the past year.
The Lean Business Awards aim to position Ireland as the recognised centre of lean and enterprise excellence globally. Judges praised the innovative steps ALDI has taken through its sustainability initiatives, including its reverse vending machine trial.
ALDI this year introduced its first reverse vending machine at its Mitchelstown store in County Cork and also launched Ireland’s largest reverse vending machine at its Naas Monread Road store, as well as another unit in its Mallow, County Cork store. Judges recognised the initiative, with €1,000 being donated to ALDI’s charity partner Barnardos monthly for the duration of the trial. This is the first time in Ireland for a reverse vending machine scheme to establish a direct fundraising link to an Irish charity.
Judges also commended the ALDI team for its efforts in continuously developing its store network through its Project Fresh programme. ALDI’s entire store network is powered by 100% renewable electricity, and it achieved ISO 50001 accreditation in recognition of its efforts to improve energy efficiencies. Many stores have also received CO2 upgrades, meaning they use a more environmentally-friendly refrigerant.
Welcoming the latest award win, ALDI Ireland group managing director Niall O’Connor observed: “The team here at ALDI Ireland is absolutely delighted to win this award, and to be recognised for the great work undertaken to improve our sustainability initiatives and overall efficiency. Ensuring our customers have access to all the food and provisions they need, all at the best prices, across our 153 Irish stores is our priority, and this award is a testament to the hard work and commitment of all our colleagues and suppliers across the country.”
ALDI is continuously exploring new ways to improve sustainability across its processes and has been Carbon Neutral since January, 2019. As part of its long-term commitment towards the environment, ALDI has pledged to plant one million native Irish woodland trees by 2025, and over 500,000 trees have been planted around Ireland to date. This initiative alone will effect a 160,000-tonne reduction in carbon emissions over the next 100 years.
The prestigious Lean Business Award is just the latest major award to wing its way to ALDI Ireland, which has also been recognised for its fantastic work in sustainability through a number of other such accolades, including the title of ‘Green Retailer’ at the 2022 Green Awards and being voted Ireland’s Most Sustainable Supermarket by Irish shoppers in the Ireland RepTrak Sustainability Index 2021.
Furthermore, ALDI Ireland secured the Communication – Multinational Company award at this year’s Chambers Ireland Sustainable Business Impact Awards in recognition of its Corporate Responsibility strategy, Better Everyday. This award recognises the sterling work ALDI does to communicate a comprehensive strategy to internal staff and external stakeholders alike.
The Better Everyday campaign improved communications internally with employees and externally with charity partners, customers and other key business stakeholders regarding ALDI’s comprehensive work and engagement in Corporate Responsibility (CR). ALDI’s CR strategy is formed around three pillars – Greener, Fairer and Healthier – which outline the steps ALDI is taking to continuously improve its business operations for its customers, the environment and the local communities in which it operates.
At the Green Awards in April, meanwhile, in recognition of its company-wide commitment to a series of sustainability initiatives, including carbon and waste reduction, biodiversity, community engagement and staff training and awareness, ALDI Ireland was a worthy recipient of the Green Retailer Award for the second time in three years. This was their FIFTH major sustainability award inside a six-month period!
The annual Green Awards, first established in 2008, recognise the outstanding contribution and commitment of companies towards achieving a greener future in Irish business. ALDI’s commitment to using 100% green electricity, reducing packaging and waste throughout its supply chain and its support of diverse carbon-offsetting projects were recognised by judges, along with many other sustainability initiatives and achievements.
It was noted that ALDI had removed more than 2,150 tonnes of virgin plastic from its Irish stores and replaced over 930 tonnes of unrecyclable material with recyclable alternatives.
“The entire team here at Aldi is committed to our sustainability goals and are focused on limiting our environmental impact whether that be through less food waste, reducing our carbon emissions or increasing the use of sustainable energy,” O’Connor commented.
“We consider it a great honour to receive this Green Retailer Award. To be recognised at the Green Awards is something that all companies in the sustainability space aspire towards, and to be considered a stand-out amongst our retail competitors is something we can be very proud of.”
Elsewhere, ALDI Ireland – who in 2015 became only the second supermarket in Ireland to achieve the international energy management accreditation ISO 50001 – was awarded the title of Plastic Pledge Gold Winner at the 2021 Pakman Awards, in recognition of its work in reducing plastic and packaging waste in its products and stores. The Pakman Awards are the national environmental awards recognising recycling and waste management among businesses, organisations, community groups and individuals in Ireland.
At the 2021 Chambers Ireland Sustainable Business Impact Awards, ALDI Ireland received the Environment Award in recognition of its work to significantly reduce plastic and packaging across its products and stores as well as the Partnership with Charity award in recognition of its work in combating food wastage and food poverty through its long-term partnership with FoodCloud.
Additionally, at the 2021 Business Energy Achievement Awards, ALDI was awarded the Overall Energy Achievement Award (in recognition of its approach to using sustainable energy, energy reduction and reducing carbon emissions) alongside the award for Best Energy Achievement in Retail. The Business Energy Achievement Awards recognise excellence and achievements from organisations which demonstrate effective sustainable energy initiatives.
ALDI Ireland is committed to consistently reducing its environmental impact by focusing on three key areas: tackling climate change; boosting energy efficiency; and reducing, reusing and recycling waste. Its Buying and Plastic & Packaging teams have reviewed the entire product range and have taken positive steps to reduce the amount of plastic and packaging used.
Since 2017, ALDI’s Energy Optimisation Project has sought to identify opportunities to save energy across all stores by improving lighting, refrigeration, heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and small power. All new and refurbished stores boast more efficient LED lighting throughout the sales area, including in chillers and chest freezers. LED lighting uses up to 60% less energy than older traditional lighting.
ALDI Ireland and UK have been Carbon Neutral since January 2019, as a result of continually working to reduce their carbon footprint through buying 100% renewable electricity, using greener refrigerant gases and purchasing carbon offsets for the emissions they can’t yet eliminate completely.
ALDI Ireland have reduced their carbon footprint by 63% per m2 since 2012 and 100% of the electricity powering its store network is sourced from Irish wind power.
Since the beginning of 2018, all new stores have been granted environmentally-friendly CO2 refrigeration to significantly reduce carbon emissions from refrigerant gases, while these refrigeration systems are also being rolled out to older stores to replace end-of-life equipment, while waste heat from chillers is utilised to heat newer stores, crucially removing the need for gas.
First published in Grocery & Retail Ireland magazine Vol 1 No 1, Winter 2022
