Ecosystems

In textile and shoe production, Lidl and Kaufland decided in 2014 and 2015, respectively, to support the Detox campaign launched by Greenpeace and publicly commit to the Detox Commitments. The goal of this obligation was to eliminate eleven dangerous groups of substances from the production of textiles and shoes for Lidl and Kaufland. By the end of 2030, the companies of Schwarz Group want to target the use of chemicals that are harmless to environment and health to produce their own brands. To achieve this, they will continue to work on compliance with their detox commitments based on a standard restricted substances list (MRSL) to produce their textiles and shoes.

The jointly created REset Plastic strategy also addresses the issue of water. In this framework, plastic in packaging and the corresponding waste is reduced, packaging is made more recyclable, and valuable resources are kept in circulation to a greater extent. In this way, we contribute to ensuring that plastic waste does not end up in the environment and through various ways in the world’s seas and bodies of water. Projects and collaborations in the Remove action area mean the companies of Schwarz Group are also helping to deal with the plastic waste that is already in the environment.

Avoiding microplastics is also critically important for protecting ecosystems and bodies of water. As a retail company with a variety of products in the washing, laundry detergent, and cleaning products and cosmetics product groups, Lidl and Kaufland are relying on using microplastic-free recipes. Back in 2013, Kaufland decided to completely stop using solid microplastics particles in all its internationally available private label products from then on, and recorded this in a corresponding voluntary agreement.

In addition to protecting bodies of water from pollution and contamination by waste and chemicals, the companies of Schwarz Group are focusing on efficient use of the water resource. At their own sites, they place great importance on using watersaving systems in production processes and in construction measures. Kaufland meat processing plants, and to some extent Schwarz Produktion, have also set themselves the target of continually monitoring and cutting specific water consumption in their own plants.

The retail divisions of the Schwarz Group, Lidl and Kaufland, are actively committed to deforestation-free supply chains. Lidl's and Kaufland's commitment has also been honored externally. In the WWF Deforestation Scorecard 2022, for example, Lidl scores as the best company.

By the end of 2025, Lidl aims to have supply chains that are free of deforestation, conversion, and exploitation. Particularly relevant raw materials in this context are soy, palm (kernel) oil, cocoa, beef, and cellulose or wood. Lidl in Germany and Kaufland signed the "Cerrado Manifesto" initiated by the WWF and other organizations in 2020. In doing so, they are committed to protecting habitats in Brazil. The Cerrado is the most species-rich savannah area in the world and accounts for five percent of global biodiversity. Kaufland is one of five companies participating in a pilot project on deforestation- and conversion-free soy supply chains. The goals are to implement the Deforestation and Conversion Free (DCF) Toolkit and to work on transforming one or more supply chains according to the Accountability Framework (AFI). To this end, the companies exchange ideas in a monthly project group organized by WWF Germany on the implementation of DCF supply chains.

Find out more about Kaufland's und Lidl's commitment.

To systematically promote the preservation of ecosystems, Lidl and GLOBALG.A.P. released the first industry-wide additional module for biodiversity with the BioDiversity add-on in April 2022. As the first European food retailer, Lidl will work with the standard and initially apply the standard within their cooperation with over 250 growers from different European countries. The add-on contributes to protecting biodiversity as it, for example, requires a management plan for biodiversity as well as effective criteria for soil protection including pest control. Kaufland is also commited to the topic: Together with the Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ) e. V. and Gemüsering Stuttgart GmbH, Kaufland launched a scientific project to promote sustainable agricultural measures in 2020. By working with almost 20 businesses from the three culture groups “vegetables,” “fruit,” and “potatoes” from five countries, biodiversity, humus content, and soil fertility will be analyzed and improved by applying scientific findings. The results will then be translated into practical actions. In addition, Lidl and Kaufland are founding members of Food for Biodiversity e.V., a registered association in which representatives from companies, societies and standards from the food industry contribute to maintaining biological diversity through various projects. To date, these are pilot projects, in which a jointly developed basic set of biodiversity criteria is implemented and checked.

As part of the 360 degree biodiversity protection program “Lidl Lebensräume” founded in 2018, Lidl  in Germany is raising awareness among customers for endangered biodiversity and contributing to protecting wild bees and other beneficial insects. In 2019, the program was granted the status of official project of the UN Decade of Biological Diversity by the United Nations. An example for successful implementation: Between 2018 and 2021, Lidl created a total of more than 170,000 square meters of wildflower meadows at over 30 logistics centers in Germany. Lidl has also supported its suppliers and producers in creating natural wildflower strips since 2013. This has led to the creation of over 3.6 million square meters of wildflower areas.

At Kaufland, trainees are championing more biodiversity by creating a wildflower strip at the Heilbronn meat processing plant. In addition to wild bees, honey bees are settled there, and the trainees are learning how honey is harvested and produced with the help of a beekeeper. That honey is then processed in meat and sausage products and marketed by them. Schwarz Produktion also promotes biodiversity locally on its plant grounds in Roßbach (Burgenlandkreis). 275,000 square meters in total is either sustainably managed, with concrete measures like wildflower strips and natural grazing, or completely relinquished to nature. 22,000 square meters of this are managed as wild flower patches, on another part of the grounds a permanent habitat for insects has also been created with ideal nesting and feeding sites.