Carbon Neutral Products

Carbon-Neutral Products Join the Lidl Product Assortment

From rising sea levels and temperatures to more extreme weather and droughts that threaten our crops, climate change is negatively impacting life on our planet. For Lidl, assuming responsibility means acting responsibly and working to address the questions today that will need to be answered in the future.

To that end, we are expanding our product range to include a variety of carbon-neutral products. With this new product assortment, we are giving customers the opportunity to consciously select more climate-friendly alternatives to conventional products. The carbon-neutral items that will be featured in our Lidl US stores include items under our own brands beginning with our Vemondo® line. Selected non-food items are also being sold at our Lidl US stores in carbon-neutral versions.

Carbon Offsets for Our Carbon Neutral Products

Lidl is currently investing in three Gold Standard carbon offset projects, which were selected at the recommendation of ClimatePartner and chosen due to the positive impact that climate protection will have in those areas. The Gold Standard is one of several standards that ensure the quality of offset providers. It was developed by World Wildlife Fund and other environmental organizations and is one of the most stringent standards for carbon offsets.

Lidl’s current offsetting investments include a renewable energy project in India and a clean drinking water project in Eritrea. The projects produce carbon reduction credits which Lidl uses to offset its products. These investments allow Lidl to offset emissions which occur during production, transport, and disposal of our carbon neutral product range.

At the same time, only products that fundamentally cause fewer greenhouse gas emissions than their alternatives - for example vegetarian and vegan foods- can be considered for our carbon-neutral range. This is because we want to offer our customers a more all-around climate-friendly option. We will continue to evaluate and improve how we can avoid, reduce, or offset carbon emissions in the supply chain over the long term to support further expansion of our carbon-neutral product line.

Thinking Globally While Acting Locally: Lidl US and the Schwarz Group

As a proud part of the Schwarz Group, a leading global retailer, we take great pride in the commitments that our parent company has made in the environmental and social impact space and strive to support these efforts here in the US. The Schwarz Group is among the top retailers in the world, and its pillars in food retailing are Lidl and Kaufland. The Schwarz Group is also active in the areas of food production with Schwarz Produktion and environmental services with PreZero. The Schwarz Group is one of only a few retailers to cover the entire value cycle, from production and retail to disposal and recycling.

Climate protection plays a critical role in the Schwarz Group’s group-wide climate strategy. Key components of the strategy include:

The entire Schwarz Group will reduce its operational greenhouse gas emissions (scope 1 & 2 emissions) by 55 percent by 2030 compared to 2019*.
The entire Schwarz Group has been sourcing 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources since fiscal year 2022**.
Suppliers that are responsible for 78 percent of product-related emissions (this contributes to Scope 3 emissions) are encouraged by the Schwarz Group to define their own climate target by 2026 according to the criteria of the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi).

* Reduction of operational emissions (scope 1 & 2) in comparison to 2019.

**Excluding any purchase agreements that the Schwarz Group cannot influence, such as those for individual leased properties with a binding electricity procurement clause.

Further information can be found at https://gruppe.schwarz/en/responsibility/ecosystems.

Our Lidl US team also takes climate protection very seriously. We engage in a variety of measures and are in progress adding to these efforts. Currently:

We invest in efforts to help to reduce our store’s carbon emissions, including energy-efficient automated and LED lighting and industry-leading efficient refrigerant systems. The US Environmental Protection Agency has recognized Lidl stores for their environmentally friendly designs.
Our stores maintain a “bring your own bag” policy, and support extensive internal efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle key materials, including plastic. PreZero US, also part of our Schwarz Group parent company, is one of our key partners in this space.
Our stores offer an extensive variety of healthy, responsible choices, including Fair Trade, USDA Organic, Rainforest Alliance and Marine Stewardship Council certified products. Learn more here about our certified offerings.
We encourage our customers to join us in taking steps for environmental sustainability and have partnered with How2Recycle® to provide clear recycling information on our product packaging.
We help to raise water consumption awareness, and have introduced our own Lidl “Save Water” label to a growing list of products that require water during use.

To learn more visit: lidl.com/sustainability