Aldi and Miwa pilot supermarket for reusable F&B packaging

23 Nov 2022 --- Aldi has opened a “green” supermarket in Royal Leamington Spa, UK, offering zero-waste and reusable food packaging options to reduce the average CO2 emissions that conventional supermarkets produce by two-thirds.

The plan for the shop is modeled by the Czech company Miwa, which has already successfully created waste-reduction retail chains. To motivate customers to pick reusable options when shopping, Aldi provides discounts on food sold in customers’ containers or paper bags.

“We see the reusable packaging trend as inevitable. Single-use packaging is one of the most striking examples of how we pollute the environment while wasting valuable natural resources,” Eva Nicova, Miwa impact specialist tells PackagingInsights. 

Reducing supermarket waste
For some time, Aldi tested Miwa’s zero waste solution internally and finally decided to test it in a new supermarket near its UK headquarters. 

“For now, this is a pilot cooperation. However, it is crucial for us because Aldi has almost one thousand shops in Great Britain alone,” says Mirek Lizec, Miwa executive director.

Aldi works with Miwa on an ecological supermarket concept, set to expand if successful. “The success and implementation in other Aldi supermarkets depend on how customers will react [to the new store] and how comfortable and efficient our system will be for the store employees. The numbers after the first month of operation look very good.” 

The model is based primarily on standardized reusable capsules – circulating between shops, the service center and manufacturers – while using smart data. Miwa recognizes it is essential for retailers that this system does not disturb their existing logistic and operational processes. The company instead ensured that the reusable options bring an economic and ecological advantage. 

Nuts for zero-waste 
The system offers zero-waste shopping for coffee, nuts, almonds and seeds in reusable containers, which strongly reduces the need for traditional single-use food packaging. One capsule saves almost 2,000 pieces of single-use packaging during its life cycle.

“In Europe, the packaging sector accounts for 40% of plastics and 50% of paper consumption. Most of the packaging is single-use and results in 90 million tonnes of packaging waste annually,” informs Nicova. 

The Czech company similarly cooperates, for example, with the most prominent Dutch chain Albert Heijn and in Czechia, with the retail chain Albert.

“The UK market is a bit further ahead in reusable packaging than, for example, the Dutch or Czech markets. But not by much. The whole field is still in its infancy everywhere in Europe,” continues Lizec. 

Expanding reuse retail
Miwa and Aldi began their planning for collaboration about a year and a half ago with the pilot cooperation that was supposed to start already in autumn 2021. However, it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Miwa is currently finalizing negotiations with several other supermarket chains in various European countries.

Innova Market Insights pegged “Reusable Revolution” as a top trend for 2021, noting the shift from single-use consumption to reuse as a critical strategy for material savings.

“Chains have been testing what will work for them. Public demands regarding green shopping are also increasing, which is gradually reflected in legislative requirements.”

“There is a growing consensus that the mountains of waste associated with single-use packaging are not okay, and food manufacturers and chains must and often want to respond to this,” Lizec concludes.

“All this is part of a crucial change that the world is facing - change toward circular economy. The transformation of the plastic industry is happening. All this combined can bring a complete transformation of the whole supply chain,” adds Nicova.

By Sabine Waldeck