Discount Retail Chain Aldi Spain (German family owned) has in 30% of its stores a refrigeration system that uses only carbon dioxide (CO2), a natural refrigerant that does not harm or damage the environment. In total, there are already 126 of the 411 discounter stores in the country.
In fact, practically all the stores opened more than two years ago by the company, already only use carbon dioxide in their food refrigeration systems, dispensing with other types of materials such as fluorinated, which would cause the emission of 43 tons per year per store.
Thanks to this environmentally responsible cooling system, Aldi avoids the potential emission into the atmosphere of 5,368 tons of carbon dioxide per year. In addition, in case of leaks in such systems, they would be natural and would not affect the atmosphere.
Thanks to this environmentally responsible cooling system, Aldi avoids the potential emission into the atmosphere of 5,368 tons of carbon dioxide per year. On the other hand, the company has also continued to make progress in the use of solar energy and, in 2022, the company avoided the emission into the atmosphere of more than 3,600 tons of carbon dioxide. During the past year Aldi Spain incorporated more than 19,230 modules to its network of photovoltaic installations, which allowed to close the year with more than 37,430 plates (equivalent to more than 85,640 square meters of surface).
Currently, Aldi's photovoltaic installations are located in around 210 stores throughout the country and allow to take advantage of 97% of the energy generated for the establishment's own consumption and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In terms of energy, all the stores of the chain have LED lighting and more than half, specifically 210 supermarkets, have home automation to improve efficiency in air conditioning and lighting, as well as the supervision of facilities and use and management of energy in stores. In addition, the discounter has 390 charging points for electric cars in more than 150 stores.
Regarding the reduction of the use of plastic, in the last three years, and through the elimination of disposable plastic products, the redesign of packaging or the replacement of virgin plastic with cardboard or recycled plastic, Aldi has saved more than 1,730 tons of virgin plastic and expects to achieve that by 2025 all own Private Label brand packaging is recyclable, reusable and/or compostable.
