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Energy & Emissions in Our Operations

  

  

We are committed to the continuous reduction of our greenhouse gas emissions. Our Sustainability Strategy includes the reduction of our energy consumption and emissions by using renewable energy, low-carbon HGV fuels, less harmful refrigerant gases and making our store designs as energy efficient as possible.

Emissions |  Click here  to read the Aldi South Group Carbon Footprint Report.
Energy |  Click here  to read the Aldi UK & Ireland Energy Policy.

Targets

For our own operations, Aldi UK & Ireland are aiming to achieve net zero for Scope 1 emissions (refrigeration gas, transport fuel, natural gas use in our operations) by 2035 and for Scope 2 emissions (the electricity we buy & use in our stores, distribution centres and offices) by 2030.

To track our progress to net zero, we have an interim target which has been approved by the Science Based Target Initiative:

  • Aldi South Group to reduce operational greenhouse gas emissions by 26% by end of 2025 (vs 2016 baseline).

We know these are ambitious targets and we have a long way to go but we’ve started our journey and are working hard to be Better Everyday!

Our Operational Emissions (Scope 1 & 2)

2022 CO2 Emissions
(Scope 1 & 2 Market Based)

In 2022 our Scope 1 & 2 emissions were 111,477 tCO2e, this was a 3% reduction vs 2021.

What We’re Doing

These are some of the activities we’ve been working on to reduce our energy and emissions from our own operations:

Electricity & Renewables

  • 100% of the electricity we directly purchase is green, generated by renewable sources via the REGO certification method.
  • Installing doors on our store fridges in all new and refurbished stores to reduce the amount of electricity used by up to 20%, keeping our products cool and our customers a bit warmer at the same time.
  • Installing solar panels on all new stores. We already have solar panels on over 400 stores and all 11 UK distribution centres, that’s a total of over 100,000 panels!
  • All new and refurbished stores have LED lighting throughout the sales area including in chillers and chest freezers. LED lighting uses up to 60% less energy than older traditional lighting.
  • 9 of our UK distribution centres are part of the Climate Change Agreement scheme which sets us energy reduction targets for refrigeration.

Gas

  • Replacing gas heating where possible with electric, such as Air Source Heat Pumps.
  • Converting our existing store refrigeration systems to CO2 refrigerant gas, which has a much lower global warming potential.

Fuel

  • Transitioning our company cars to electric; over 60% of our Regional company car fleet is now electric!
  • Making the switch from diesel to lower-carbon alternative fuels like CNG and HVO for our HGVs, these fuels emit up to 80% less CO2 than diesel.

Optimising fuel consumption

is a key way of reducing our climate impact as this makes up nearly two thirds of our footprint.

We are working

to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions from transport and implement an approach to sustainability in Aldi's retail logistics.

Water

  • Since the launch of our Water Strategy in 2022, we’ve been working to implement water reduction initiatives across this business, this includes site audits, leak detections and repair inspections.
  • All of our UK distribution centres have Automatic Meter Readers, meaning that we can get live data to understand our water-usage patterns and spot opportunities to reduce!
  • We’re rolling out Automatic Meters to our Store sites to get more data so we can spot opportunities to reduce water even faster!
  • All new distribution centres also have rainwater harvesting as standard and the vehicle washes use recycled water.
  • So far Aldi UK & Ireland have achieved a 7.4% reduction in water per m2 (2022 vs 2020 baseline).

All of our GB Regional Distribution Centre (RDC) sites have Automatic Meter Readers (AMR) installed as it is important that our highest water using sites are accurately and continually monitored. This enables us to understand our water-using patterns and identify efficiency opportunities. All new RDCs also have rainwater harvesting as standard and the vehicle washes use recycled water.

Colleague Engagement

Encouraging our colleagues to be as energy-efficient as possible in the key areas we use energy (refrigeration, lighting, heating, fleet diesel and electrical appliances) via our ‘Greener Everyday’ engagement programme and our ISO 50001 energy management system.

Click here  to find out more about this programme.