If you shop at Lidl, don’t be surprised when you see a change in the packaging of milk. The bargain retailer will be the latest to remove coloured lids on some of its milk products come November. Supermarkets like Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Aldi have already rolled out this change.
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Clear caps
The move will see the green caps replaced with clear caps on semi-skimmed and organic fresh milk. Red and blue caps which indicate skimmed, and whole milk will not be included in the trial. The change came into force yesterday, Oct 31 and will be implemented in all stores across the country by November 21.
The change is based on the fact the clear caps are more environmentally friendly than the old green caps as they will be recycled to create milk bottles. After a four-week trial, the Senior Buying Director of Lidl, Scott Davey said:
Customer feedback during the trial was overwhelmingly positive and we are thrilled to be making this change permanent across Lidl stores. In addition, this move will help us achieve our goal of making more of the plastic we use circular and fit to be repurposed time and time again.
Sustainable changes
It is estimated that 60 tonnes of recycled High-Density Polythene per year will be turned back into food-grade packaging as a result. Other supermarkets have rolled out this change as well as removing ‘best before’ dates off some products to reduce food waste. At the time, Plastics and packaging director at Aldi Richard Gorman stated:
We know it's becoming increasingly important to our customers that their everyday products are environmentally-friendly, and we are constantly reviewing ways to become a more sustainable supermarket.
Sources used:
The Mirror: Lidl makes huge change to milk in stores after Aldi and Waitrose make similar swap
HuffPost: Lidl To Make Major Change To Food Shop Essential As It Follows Other Supermarkets
Glasgow Live: Lidl announce November milk change following Aldi, Sainsbury's and Waitrose
