Raphael Geminder’s Pact Group inks partnership with Aldi to supply recycled plastic packaging for own brand products

Billionaire Raphael Geminder’s Pact Group has struck a partnership with discount supermarket chain Aldi to supply recycled plastic packaging for some of its own brand products.

Packaging mogul Raphael Geminder’s Pact Group has signed a strategic partnership with Aldi to supply recycled plastic packaging for some of the retail giant’s own brand products in Australia.

Under the new partnership, Pact will offer Aldi’s supply partners access to more sustainable packaging options for the supermarket’s exclusive brand products, such as milk bottles, meat trays, fruit and vegetable punnets, beverage bottles and shampoo bottles.

The ASX-listed Pact will manufacture the packaging at its facilities in NSW, Victoria and Queensland using recycled PET and high density polyethylene plastic resins.

Pact chief executive Sanjay Dayal said working with Aldi Australia would help drive positive change and reduce the amount of plastic waste going to landfill.

“Recycled plastic packaging that is designed and manufactured effectively, recycled properly, and disposed of correctly is the key to building a successful circular economy in Australia,” he said.

Aldi Australia’s managing director, buying, Oliver Bongardt said as one of Australia’s largest grocery retailers, it had an important role in reducing our use of plastic and improving the circularity of our product packaging.

“We are pleased to be partnering with Pact to introduce more sustainable packaging options, which will accelerate progress towards our plastics and packaging commitments.”

Aldi’s store in Rosebery features a mural inspired by the history of the building, created by renowned local artist Andrew Dennis.

Pact said its Aldi partnership represented an important step forward for both companies to achieve their sustainability goals.

“Pact has a vision to lead the circular economy and has set a target of eliminating all non-recyclable packaging it produces and offer an average of 30 per cent recycled content across its packaging portfolio by 2025.

“Aldi has committed to reducing plastic packaging by 25 per cent and include 30 per cent recycled content in its plastic packaging by 2025,” the packaging company said.

Pact is currently investing more than $76m in new packaging manufacturing equipment across its Australian operations in order to manufacture high quality recycled packaging products with an increased amount of recycled plastic resin.

Pact is also expanding its plastic recycling capabilities with its joint venture partners. Its Pact-operated circular plastics Australia PET recycling plant in Albury, NSW, is the biggest of its kind in Australia and has the capacity to recycle up to 1bn 600ml PET beverage bottles a year – or around 20,000 tonnes of PET plastic.

Pact has also signed a partnership with Woolworths Group to supply recycled packaging for products across Woolworths’ own brand range, including in milk bottles, meat trays, fruit and vegetable punnets, and beverage bottles.

Shares in Pact closed up 3.5c at 61.5c on Wednesday, although the shares are down 66 per cent in the last 12 months as the company suffered earnings downgrades brought on by tightening economic conditions, softer demand in Asia and recent weather events in New Zealand that hurt its outlook.