ALDI announced a series of commitments it has made to help combat the global plastics crisis. By 2025, 100 percent of ALDI packaging, including plastic packaging, will be reusable, recyclable or compostable. ALDI also will reduce packaging material across its entire range by at least 15 percent.

ALDI explained it has the ability to influence how its products are sourced, produced and brought to shelves because more than 90 percent of its range is ALDI-exclusive. The company is committed to working with its supplier community to achieve the following goals:

"ALDI has never offered single-use plastic shopping bags. And while we're pleased that we've helped keep billions of plastic grocery bags out of landfills and oceans, we want to continue to do more," said Jason Hart, CEO of ALDI U.S., in a statement. "The commitments we're making to reduce plastic packaging waste are an investment in our collective future that we are proud to make."

These new goals are an extension of the company's existing sustainability initiatives. For more than four decades, ALDI U.S. has never offered single-use plastic grocery bags, and shoppers have brought their reusable bags. By company estimates, this business decision has helped keep approximately 15 billion single-use plastic bags out of landfills and oceans. In 2018, ALDI recycled more than 250,000 tons of materials, including paper, cardboard, plastic and metal. Through this recycling effort, ALDI avoided the greenhouse gas equivalent of 8,094,533 gallons of gasoline. In July 2018, ALDI partnered with How2Recycle, a standardized labeling system, to empower its customers to recycle.

These packaging goals, along with other environmental initiatives, are part of the larger ALDI Corporate Responsibility program, which works to reduce food waste, support natural disaster relief efforts through employee volunteerism and donations and build stronger communities through a long-standing partnership with Feeding America.