Reducing Harmful Chemicals

Reducing hazardous chemicals in production

Within the textile and shoe supply chain there may be chemicals present which cause harm to the human body as well as the environment. These chemicals can also be toxic once washed into the waterways, negatively impacting aquatic life and local ecosystems. This is why ALDI has made a commitment to eliminate harmful chemicals from our textile and shoe supply chains.

For example, per- and polyfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) are used to provide fabrics with water and oil-repellent properties. ALDI continues to find substitutes and source PFC-free alternatives when producing water repellent textiles, such as in our snow gear.

Environmental compliance

ALDI is proud to be the first and only Australian supermarket to make a commitment to eliminating the use of harmful chemicals used in textile and shoe production around the world.

We have set ambitious standards and introduced comprehensive chemical management across all tiers of the ALDI supply chain. This has led to an increased treatment of factory wastewater, and improved wastewater and sludge testing results. A highly efficient overview of our supply chain also enables us to support strategic production facilities to meet our requirements.

Check out ALDI’s Environmental Compliance Detox video for more information here.

Increasing transparency in our supply chain

We started publishing our main production facilities for textiles and shoes on the ALDI SOUTH Group website and the  Open Apparel Registry (OAR) platform in 2020. This includes the name, address and number of employees at our main production facilities used in the manufacturing of garment textiles and shoes. This information is updated twice a year, providing our customers with further information on where ALDI products come from.