International grocery chain Lidl has always been committed to doing business in a way that supports sustainability, invests in local communities and champions health and wellness through the provision of good food. Lidl Finland recently announced that it has achieved the UL Zero Waste to Landfill Platinum level for all three of its distribution centers in Finland, another notable milestone in their pursuit of increased sustainability practices.
Monitored and verified by UL as a part of the rigorous UL Landfill Waste Diversion Validation, Lidl Finland’s participation in this voluntary program marks their leadership in the pursuit of waste reduction and recycling. The program monitors and measures material flows that are not part of an organization’s final product and recognizes companies that handle waste in environmentally responsible and innovative ways —from reuse, recycling and biogas production to biofuel and thermal treatment with energy recovery
Lidl’s distribution centers across Finland achieved an astounding 100% rate of waste diversion, indicating that all waste generated from these facilities is diverted from landfill, instead of being disposed or sent to incineration without energy recovery. UL’s validation of the diversion rate for Lidl Finland covers the operation of the distribution centers and does not include materials delivered directly from stores for recycling, but only waste streams that pass through distribution centers.
This accomplishment is the result of decades of work by Lidl Finland. A continually evolving process, the stores now sort out 14 different waste streams, which are prepared in distribution centers for additional processing and utilization. To meet the program’s rigorous criteria for platinum zero waste, the proportion of reusable and recyclable material must be 100% and the proportion of energy waste must not exceed 10%. The average share of energy in Lidl Finland’s distribution centers is only 0.3%.
“UL and their experts in waste diversion worked with us throughout the validation process to help ensure precision measurement and thanks to their thorough process, we were also able to identify additional opportunities for sustainability action. We are proud to continue to reduce our environmental footprint,” said Anna Liitiäinen, Project Manager (recycling) of Lidl.
UL has assisted dozens of companies in a range of industries reduce waste and enhance their sustainability efforts with our testing, inspection and certification services. To learn more about the Landfill Waste Diversion Environmental Claim Validation visit the UL website.
