Lidl changing its milk bottle caps but not all customers like the idea

Nov 20, 2023

The retailer has followed in the footsteps of Sainsbury's, Aldi and Waitrose

Our free email updates are the best way to get headlines direct to your inbox

We have more newsletters

Lidl has announced a big change to its milk bottls. The supermarket giant will be swapping their green, red and blue milk caps for clear ones in a bid to help the environment, Liverpool ECHO reports.

The green-coloured caps on semi-skimmed milk and organic fresh milk will be replaced with clear ones by November 21, the supermarket announced. The clear bottle caps are easily recyclable and leave less of a carbon footprint, according to The Grocer.

This move will allow approximately 60 tonnes of recycled high-density polythene to be turned into food-grade packaging in the form of milk bottle caps. Lidl and its milk supplier, Müller, trialled the clear caps in September.

READ MORE:Hour by hour Halloween night weather forecast for trick or treating families across Coventry and Warwickshire

Scott Davey, Lidl's senior buying director, said: "We remain committed to supporting our customers in helping them make more sustainable shopping decisions on a daily basis.

"Customer feedback during the trial was overwhelmingly positive and we are thrilled to be making this change permanent across Lidl stores. In addition, this move will help us achieve our goal of making more of the plastic we use circular and fit to be repurposed time and time again."

Aldi, Waitrose and Sainsbury's made similar moves, sparking confusion from some customers. One Twitter user said: "@AldiUK who on Earth thought it was a good idea to make the plastic milk tops clear?? Just spent 25 mins looking for it! It was already on!"

Another tweeted: "Why the hell they changed the blue or green top for milk bottles to clear one it doing my head, I keep thinking the top is off when making a breakfast or tea/coffee. Anyone doing the same ??"

Responding to one customer, Waitrose said: "Coloured milk bottle tops could not be recycled. The change was made so the clear bottle tops can be recycled. You can still select the milk you like by looking at the colour on the label."

Richard Gorman, plastics and packaging director at Aldi said: "We know it's becoming increasingly important to our customers that their everyday products are environmentally-friendly, and we are constantly reviewing ways to become a more sustainable supermarket. By trialling clear milk caps we are making our milk bottles easier to recycle, so they can be turned back into new packaging."

Lidl's wrap resource management sector specialist, Adam Herriott, said: "Changing the caps to a natural/non-pigmented HDPE will enable them to be recycled with the bottle and go back into food-grade applications, therefore able to be recycled multiple times into high-grade, high-value materials and products."