Lidl Northern Ireland has announced its commitment to becoming a carbon neutral business by 2025 and industry leading initiatives including launching a dedicated Supplier Engagement Programme and enabling customers to lower their carbon impact through EV charging points.

The retailer also plans to further progress on its targets by committing to a 46% reduction on its operational emissions by 2030. The announcement comes as part of the retailer’s progress report on their sustainability strategy ‘A Better Tomorrow’.

Driving targets

Lidl is committed to driving those targets through a robust schedule of activities that target their internal operations as well as initiatives that support their network of suppliers and customers to lower their carbon impact. These initiatives will cement Lidl’s position as Ireland’s most sustainable retailer.

Since 2019, Lidl has partnered with The Carbon Trust to embark on a collaborative study measuring the retailer’s carbon footprint and to model in-depth carbon reduction strategies, aligned with the overarching Science Based Target initiative guidelines. The results of the study formed the basis of a national reduction strategy, with specific targets set for Lidl’s operations in Northern Ireland as outlined in Lidl’s newly updated Sustainability Strategy progress report.

J.P. Scally, CEO Lidl Ireland and Northern Ireland said;

“At Lidl we believe it is our responsibility to not only offer the best service for our customers, suppliers and communities but to protect the environment and build a successful, sustainable future. We take our role in society seriously and continuously strive to go above and beyond to make a positive difference for our customers, communities, and the environment, working to bring about real change through innovation, investment, and active leadership.

There has been a notable increase in awareness and understanding for sustainability, from sustainable living to responsible business practices and the importance of supporting local. I am hopeful this global transition will continue to drive ambitious results towards protecting our planet and securing a bright, sustainable future for upcoming generations. At Lidl, we will continue to contribute to this global ambition through our A Better Tomorrow strategy. We are proud of the progress we have achieved that is outlined in this report and look forward building on that progress in the years to come.”

Key initiatives

Key initiatives outlined within the report include a focus on further reducing plastic use and packaging waste, with Lidl Northern Ireland committing to 100% of all own-brand packaging being widely recyclable, reusable or renewable by 2025. Additionally, 50% of the materials used in own-brand packaging will come from recycled materials.

Lidl Northern Ireland is also in progress to develop a dedicated ‘Supplier Engagement Programme’, the first of its kind in the retail industry, which sees collaboration with its key suppliers to develop CSR and Sustainability projects to improve the supplier’s environmental impact and in turn, help them to grow their future business sustainably. The five-year collaborative programme aims to develop long term plans with suppliers to address carbon emissions reduction but also packaging reduction and circularity amongst other areas.

Having already made the switch to purchasing 100% green energy in 2018, Lidl is committed to retrofitting solar panelling across its entire store network by at least 15 stores a year across the island of Ireland. Lidl currently have 74 dedicated customer charging points across its store network, the most of any retailer on the island, and is committed to increasing this number over the coming years.

Positive impact

Lidl Northern Ireland continues to strive to have a positive impact on the communities in which it operates by working with charity partner NSPCC Northern Ireland. Now in its fourth year, the partnership has delivered fundraising of more than £500,000 for the charity. Lidl Northern Ireland has also launched ground-breaking initiatives including becoming the first retailer locally to combat period poverty by offering free period products to shoppers and becoming the first company in the island of Ireland to offer compassionate leave to employees who have experienced early pregnancy loss and miscarriage.

Owen Keogh, Head of CSR, Lidl Ireland and Northern Ireland added:

“A Better Tomorrow is our comprehensive sustainability strategy that targets all functions of our business from sustainable sourcing, packaging and how we approach construction, to how we can improve the lives of our colleagues and the communities we operate in. We continue to collaborate with our suppliers and industry experts to ensure we are setting the standard for sustainability in the sector ensuring that our strategy crystalises our commitment to providing a safe and nurturing environment for our colleagues, to contribute positively to our communities and to be exemplary environmental stewards.”

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Lidl Northern Ireland has announced local aspiring artist, Jenny Hanna, as the winner of its sustainability colouring competition. Handpicked from more than 3,000 entries, Jenny’s design will feature on the retailer’s special edition batch of heavy-duty reusable shopping bags made with 100% recycled plastic.

Earlier this year, Lidl Northern Ireland launched a nationwide competition calling on budding artists from across the region to submit their shopping bag design entries with a focus on the theme of sustainability. Entrants were encouraged to get creative and submit a drawing, sketch or painting of what one of the R’s of Sustainability means to them – choosing from the themes ‘reduce’, ‘reuse’ or ‘recycle’.

Hundreds of entries

Dundonald-based Jenny eclipsed hundreds of entrants to be crowned regional winner, with her masterpiece focusing on the reuse of plastic bags, depicting a bumblebee with the message “Bee clever, use me forever.”

The artwork is one of five designs set to feature on the special edition bag range, which will be available to buy across Lidl’s 210 stores throughout the island of Ireland from August.

Congratulating Jenny on her win, Owen Keogh, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Lidl Northern Ireland, said:

“We are incredibly proud to be leading the way in sustainability in the Northern Irish retail space. This initiative alone will see the elimination of 6.3 million ‘bags for life’ from circulation on the island of Ireland each year. With that in mind, we were delighted to see our recent competition spark the all-important conversation around sustainability and would like to extend a big thank you to everyone who entered the competition. Huge congratulations to Jenny whose design will feature on our 100% recycled plastic reusable bags from August”.

Commenting on the win, thirty-four-year-old Jenny, who is living with autism and has a passion for art, said:

“I was delighted and so surprised to get the call to tell me that my design had won Lidl Northern Ireland’s competition. I can’t wait to walk into my local Lidl in Dundonald and see my bag for sale. It is such an important initiative encouraging customers to reuse their plastic bags to protect our environment and reduce plastic waste.

I’m thrilled to also receive £500 in Lidl vouchers to spend in my local store. I’m not sure what I’m going to buy yet, but whatever it is, I’ll be carrying it home in the 100% recycled plastic shopping bag with my winning design on it.”

Lidl’s 100% recycled bags

The introduction of Lidl’s 100% recycled plastic bags is the retailer’s latest move in tackling waste to protect the planet as part of Lidl’s ‘A Better Tomorrow’ sustainability strategy set in 2018, and complements a range of other in-store initiatives introduced over the last number of years. This includes the removal of plastic packaging on fruit, providing reusable fruit and veg bags and offering in-store recycling bins.

Under its sustainability strategy, the retailer has made a number of Plastic Pledge commitments which include eliminating single use plastics, using 20% less plastic packaging by 2022 and having 100% recyclable own-brand packaging by 2025. The theme of the competition is also aligned with Lidl’s Reset Plastic approach which focuses on Reduce, Redesign, Recycle, Remove and Research.

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