Aldi-Süd branch in Düsseldorf (archive image)
Photo: Federico Gambarini / dpa
Aldi-Süd ended the sale of returnable glass bottles in around 50 branches in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate after a few months.
"After the test phase, we decided not to pursue this concept any further," a spokeswoman for the discounter told SPIEGEL-Inquiry.
"However, we reserve the right to check reusable systems for our branches again at a later date."
Environmentalists were disappointed.
In view of the rising mountains of rubbish, it is a "scandal" that Aldi is now completely using disposable products like its main competitor Lidl, said Thomas Fischer of Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) of the "Süddeutsche Zeitung", which first reported on the decision.
Like the Federal Environment Agency, DUH recommends reusable bottles because of their better ecological balance.
However, their share of all bottles sold has long been in decline.
Aldi defended its one-way strategy.
"We would like to point out that one-way PET bottles have improved significantly from an environmentally friendly point of view," the spokeswoman continued.
"They are not only lighter and unbreakable, but are often made of recycled plastic."
At Aldi Süd, all non-returnable PET bottles returned by the consumer would be "recycled" and could thus be used, among other things, as material for new bottles.
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