Less Plastic: The Companies of Schwarz Group Revise REset Plastic Target

• New target for reducing plastic in private label packaging
• Major advances with REset Plastic strategy
• Role model for circular economy

Thanks to their transnational cooperation and diverse set of measures, the companies of Schwarz Group are making great strides toward achieving the goals of their joint group-wide REset Plastic strategy. The companies have already exceeded their original target of using 20 percent less plastic by 2025 across countries and have now formulated an even more ambitious target: The companies of Schwarz Group will use 30 percent less plastic by 2025 and 35 percent less plastic by 2027 across divisions in their private label packaging at Lidl and Kaufland (compared to baseline year 2017).

The following figures illustrate our progress for the 2022 fiscal year (compared to baseline year 2017):

• Lidl and Kaufland have reduced their use of plastic for private label packaging by 28 percent, in reference to all 32 countries in which they operate. Kaufland in Germany was already able to reduce its use of plastic by 31 percent, and Lidl in Germany by 29 percent.
• At the moment, an average of 17 percent recycled material is being used in Lidl and Kaufland’s plastic private label packaging across countries. Lidl in Germany is currently using 27 percent recycled plastic, and Kaufland in Germany 34 percent.
• Across countries, both retail divisions have already managed to achieve maximum recyclability for 53 percent of their private label packaging. At Kaufland in Germany, we have achieved maximum recyclability for 51 percent of our private label packaging so far, and at Lidl in Germany 56 percent.

Various measures have contributed to this success:

• Designed for recycling:

The companies of Schwarz Group have been working to adjust their “packaging design” to create packaging that is as recyclable as possible. For this reason, they have transitioned to mono-materials for a great deal of their private label packaging, which can be reused in the same material flow.

• Innovative use of recycled materials:

In the packaging used for Lidl’s private label fresh chicken (labeled “Metzgerfrisch” in Germany), the companies of Schwarz Group have been able to use recycled material obtained from recycling bins and bags. Thanks to innovative rinsing and sorting processes, they have managed to process these materials in such a way that they comply with the strict legal requirements regarding food safety. The companies of Schwarz Group have also increased the amount of recycled material used in their laundry, cleaning, and household products, such as the packaging for “Formil” color laundry detergent and “K-Classic” toilet cleaner. In order to step up their use of recycled materials, the retail divisions continue to work closely with PreZero, the environmental service provider of Schwarz Group.

• Optimized packaging thanks to new design:

By taking measures such as reducing the amount of packaging material and removing the closing clip for the “K-Bio Vitalgebäck” organic cookies at Kaufland, removing the handle on Lidl’s private label “Milbona” Greek cream yogurt, and introducing new vacuum packing, the companies of Schwarz Group have succeeded in reducing the weight of their private-label packaging.

The companies of Schwarz Group are continuously working together to achieve their REset Plastic targets. Each and every action intended to ensure that plastic is used responsibly contributes to the greater good, in line with the group-wide vision of “Less Plastic – Closed Loops.”