The ESG strategy continues to drive brands to collaborate. From 10 July to 10 August, ATRenew and Aldi has launched the ‘Empty Bottles: Back to Life’ eco-recycling campaign in Shanghai, urging consumers to recycle all plastic bottles in their homes by taking them to ATRenew recycling machines. For every 200g of empty plastic bottles, Aldi will provide three types of large capacity sharing drinks, which users can select themselves.
ATRenew is a long-term IP project, joining forces with various brand partners to launch sustainability-themed campaigns. As an electronics recycling platform, ATRenew was listed in New York in 2011 and received strategic investment from JD.com in 2019. Recycling scenarios include offline shops, door-to-door recycling, the official website, the app, and MTA self-service recycling machines.
For ATRenew, this partnership serves a dual purpose: it reinforces the ‘Back to Life’ concept, encouraging more users to drop off plastics, and participate in environmental protection; it also promotes the self-service recycling machines.
Aldi, on the other hand, stated that it has always been committed to reducing plastic and aims to promote sustainable living to every consumer through its empty bottle campaign with ATRenew. This is not the first time Aldi has collaborated with online e-commerce platforms. As a German discount supermarket chain, Aldi entered China in 2017. Upon entering China, it partnered with Alibaba, opening a flagship shop on Tmall, focusing on selling its own branded products. By collecting and analysing data on consumer shopping preferences through e-commerce, Aldi established a solid foundation for determining subsequent products. In 2019, Aldi opened two offline pilot shops in Shanghai, officially starting its journey of exploring brand localisation.
Today, Aldi maintains this pace by opening around 10 new shops in China each year, focusing on Shanghai and selecting locations close to residential communities, residential clusters, and business districts, with more than 50 shops to date. In 2023, Aldi strengthened its image of discounts and competitive pricing, aiming to provide high-quality, low-priced goods and discount retailing to the Chinese market.
The cooperation between Aldi and ATRenew is a win-win partnership. Based on their shared environmental protection ethos, the brand value of green recycling has found a new creative outlet. This initiative not only puts idle resources to good use but also integrates the concept of sustainability into everyday life, embodying environmental protection and sustainable development.
