Here's What Aldi Actually Does With The Items You Return

For anyone who has yet to use it, Aldi's return policy is amazing. As per the store's Twice as Nice Guarantee program, you can literally return any qualified Aldi-brand food item you haven't used (with a valid receipt in hand, of course) and get it replaced plus your money back. And, for select non-Aldi brand items, you can still return them and get your money back. Some smaller caveats apply, of course, so definitely be sure to read the fine print, but the point is the store's return policy is stellar. What Aldi staff does with the returned items, however, is not.

In a nutshell, returns are thrown away. Naturally this may come as bit of a shock, especially considering the store's own return policy states they must be returned unused and in the original packaging. Nevertheless, Aldi employees have repeatedly stated on social media the policy is to dump it all rather than donating or putting anything back on store shelves. And, according to some, it's not quite as simple as just throwing things in the trash. There are some extra steps involved, which may be disappointing to customers and employees alike. The process isn't likely to deter shoppers from visiting the immensely popular grocery store (though there are reasons some people never shop at Aldi), but if you frequently take advantage of the Twice as Nice policy, you may want to know what's happening to the stuff you bring back.

Aldi has no official statement — at least not one that's public-facing — about its policy regarding throwing away returned items. However, it is an issue that's been talked about quite a bit online. As it turns out, extra steps are taken to actually destroy items before they're thrown away. In a 2019 post on Facebook, a self-purported Aldi employee called the store's return standards "crazy annoying" and said employees have to open all food items and "make them inedible" before throwing out. Though they did not describe how exactly the staff goes about making food items inedible, they did say it was done to prevent dumpster diving.

This process appears to be effective. Head on over to Reddit and there are complaints about the contents of Aldi dumpsters. In one post from 2024, a Redditor described their disappointment at packages and frozen pizzas being opened and ripped up. Some other posts, however, described Aldi dumpster finds as a positive, but the extent employees go to damage returned items could vary by store. It should go without saying, but dumpster diving is not recommended under any circumstances due to both the physical dangers of doing so and the likelihood of food being contaminated.

Despite the overall consensus returned items are always thrown out at Aldi, some employee statements suggested it may only be food items that are subject to the policy. The Aldi Finds section is often full of hidden gems and largely consists of non-Aldi brand, non-food items. As such, they don't fall under the Twice as Nice Guarantee policy, but you can still return them in most cases for a refund. Even better, it appears non-food items may not get thrown away at all. A user claiming to be an Aldi store manager responded to a 2023 Facebook post on the subject saying, "We only throw away food when it leaves the store. We also throw away diapers and pet food. Other than that, if it's not broken, we will put [it] back out." 

Still, the standards may be inconsistent from store to store. Responding to a Reddit post in 2020 asking what happened to the returned goods, others said their stores either threw out or donated items. Another Aldi employee on the same post said their store sometimes encourages people who were returning nonperishable goods to hang on to them instead and donate them, if possible, since otherwise, they have to toss them.

So, the next time you think about returning something at Aldi, you may want to ask what's going to happen to the item first. If it's a food suitable for donation, consider doing that instead.