UK – Aldi, the supermarket and grocery retail chain in the UK and Ireland have pledged to reduce its food waste by 50% by 2030 amidst intensifying global challenge to address food waste.

Aldi will work in collaboration with Waste and Resources Action Programme who will further seek the effort of suppliers and third party logistics providers.

The supermarket will be working to reduce the amount of surplus food going to the landfill by working together with charity organisations such as FareShare and FoodCloud.

According to the retail chain, it has achieved this by diverting 2,415 tonnes of surplus from waste, which is the equivalent of 5.75 million meals since October 2015 through a joint effort with suppliers.

To help customers reduce food waste in their homes, Aldi has put in place initiatives such as ‘love food hate waste’ messages on products, in store and online.

“Food waste is one of our sector’s most pressing issues, and reducing it is everyone’s responsibility.

By joining this network, we hope to work with others in the industry to tackle this collectively by sharing data and resources,” said Aldi managing director of corporate responsibility Oliver King.

Richard Swannell, development director at WRAP commented the move to address the food waste challenge was urgent given that one third of the world’s food is lost or wasted, costing the global economy US$950 billion each year.

The company made the announcement after joining the Champions 12.3 coalition which outlines commitment to inspiring ambition, mobilizing action and accelerating progress.

This target was also according to UN’s Sustainable Development Goals that focuses on ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns both in the public and private sector.

“The UN SDG goal 12.3 is ambitious and achievable – but only if we set targets, measure and galvanise action from governments, business and citizens from all over the world.

We look forward to working with Aldi through the Champions 12.3 network to tackle what is one of the key issues of our generation,” said Richard Swannell.