Responsibly Sourced Textiles
Garment and household textiles are a regular component of our Special Buys™. It is important to us that these products are produced in an environmentally and socially responsible way.
Responsible Textile Production
Our goal for the future is to further expand our range of responsible textiles and create even greater transparency in ALDI’s supply chains. All of our private label garment textiles products are included in the scope of our Social Monitoring Program, ALDI Sustainability Assessments and Corporate Responsibility Supplier Evaluations. You can find more information on these programs here.
Supply Chain Traceability
Understanding our supply chains and how our products are made is important for ALDI’s business. We trace textiles from final production all the way back to the processing of raw materials.
Sustainable Fibres
Increasing the use of materials from more responsible sources and recognised sustainability standards is important to ALDI for our products. We are always looking for innovative ways to ensure that our products are produced in a responsible way. See examples below.
Cotton
Cotton accounts for the majority of all fibres used in the garments and household textiles that we offer at ALDI. However there are social ramifications to its production. Many of the world’s cotton farmers are located in developing countries where labour, health and safety regulations are poor or not enforced most of the time.
With this in mind, we have committed to using 100% sustainable cotton in our ALDI-exclusive garments and household textiles by 2025. We also refrain from using cotton from countries where cultivation and harvesting are systematically associated with human rights violations. When buying cotton, we use independent third-party certification schemes. These schemes promote social and/or environmental standards in cotton cultivation and processing.
The schemes we use include:
Recycled Polyester
We regularly look into new, sustainable fibre alternatives and recycled materials. To increase the share of sustainable materials, we work with organisations like REPREVE, who produce a high quality, recycled polyester made of PET bottles. Plastic bottles are sorted, washed and chopped into flake. The flake is then blended, melted and turned into REPREVE recycled chip and loaded into a silo that can hold the equivalent of up to 27 million plastic bottles. From here the chip is transformed into fibres which are then used for multiple types of products around the world, including here at ALDI. Learn more about REPREVE on their website here.
How To Find Responsibly Sourced Home Textiles at ALDI
There are a number of labels you can look out for in ALDI stores that help to provide you with information of how they have been responsibly sourced. Below are a couple of examples of the OEKO-TEX on pack labels.
The ‘Confidence in Textiles’ label
Look out for the ‘Confidence in Textiles’ label on a large number of our ALDI household textile products. All ‘Confidence in Textiles’ certified products have successfully passed tests for harmful substances according to OEKO-TEX® Standard 100.
OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 is an independent test and certification system for all types of textiles tested for harmful substances - from threads and fabrics to the ready-to-use items. If a textile article carries the STANDARD 100 label, you can be certain that every component of this article, i.e. every thread, button and other accessories, has been tested for harmful substances and that the article therefore is harmless for human health.
The OEKO- TEX® Association works with a comprehensive catalogue of criteria when testing and certifying products. The catalogue contains more than 100 testing parameters to make certain that textiles used in products will not harm consumers.
You can shop our "Confidence in textiles" labelled products confidently because they do not contain dangerous substances. You can learn more about Oeko-Tex on their website.
The ‘Made in Green’ label
We believe that transparency creates trust. Items with the Oeko-Tex ‘Made in Green’ label feature a unique product ID and/or QR code that allow you to trace the article’s production. Each product ID provides information such as the country that the item was manufactured in.
The Made in Green label ensures that the product has been manufactured under environmentally compliant and socially responsible conditions. The label also ensures the product is made of materials that have been tested for harmful substances. Look out for the Made in Green label in store when making your next household textiles purchase. Read more about Oeko-Tex and how we are reducing harmful substances in production here.
Discover ALDI’s international sustainable textiles initiatives here.
ALDI diverted almost 30,000kg of textile waste from landfill
In 2021 ALDI Australia store employees returned 29,688kg of used textiles during a uniform refresh. In line with ALDI’s value of responsibility, we took control of our impact on the environment and repurposed these worn textile items back into useable items such as blankets, socks and carpet underlays through our partnership with Textile Recyclers Australia (TRA).
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Oeko-Tex mean?
Oeko-Tex stands for customer confidence and high product safety. If a product carries the STANDARD 100 label, you can be confident that every component of this article has been tested for harmful substances and that the article therefore is harmless to human health.