Many consumers are choosing businesses to support based on environmental and ethical criteria. Retailers that don’t keep up with the sustainability drive risk being left behind. From improving your retail waste collection and management to greening up your logistics, there are many ways retailers can limit their impact on the planet.
Great Western Recycling is a waste management and recycling provider based in Bristol. From hazardous waste removal to food recycling to comprehensive waste management, we offer the full spectrum of commercial waste services.
In this article, we explain the importance of sustainability in retail and suggest some easy sustainable practices to implement across your business.
Why is Sustainability Important in Retail?
Sustainability is a business imperative for retailers. Not only is the state of the environment a pressing concern for us all, but customers are demanding it from the businesses they engage with. Despite this, many demands make it difficult for retail businesses to go green. Is retail inherently unsustainable? Not necessarily – businesses in the sector just need to address their environmental impact and take stock of their waste production. But, with an attitude-behaviour gap between what customers want and what they will pay for, it’s tricky to find the sweet spot between greener initiatives and rapidly increasing costs.
Luckily, many sustainable practices don’t have to break the bank and can allow you to keep offering a competitive pricing strategy. From stripping back packaging to boosting waste management and, by extension, organisational efficiency, you can actually save money and avoid hefty landfill tax bills!
Find out more about retail waste management >
Below, we outline some great sustainable practices to help you get started.
Reduce & Reuse
A great way to minimise waste in your retail business is to look at the materials you are regularly using and disposing of and assess ways to limit this in the future. Paper is commonly used in the retail sector to send invoices and provide receipts, but consumers in our digital age are well accustomed to receiving these via email. Going paperless will demonstrate your commitment to the planet – use it as a marketing tool and save money too! Another idea could be to buy second-hand materials for in-store displays. Not only is this likely to be cheaper, but it will decrease the demand for new materials.
Related: Everything You Need to Know About Waste Management Audits
Overhaul Packaging
The big issue in retail is packaging. How much are you using, how much of it is single-use plastic, and how can your customers dispose of it? Assess your current packaging strategy and try to identify how it could be improved. This might include stripping unnecessary materials to limit wastage and looking for sustainable alternatives to plastic. There are many plant and biodegradable plastic products on the market that can work just as well as the real deal.
If your business has physical retail outlets, opting for paper bags and only providing them if customers request them is another great way to limit waste. When it comes to internal waste, why not talk to your suppliers and see if you can arrange a refill or reuse scheme and return the containers they supply you with? This is another great way to boost sustainability across your entire organisation.
A Beginner’s Guide to Plastic Recycling >
Address Waste Management
No retail business can count itself as sustainable if its waste management isn’t up to scratch. All businesses have a duty of care to manage their waste in the best way; in retail, this is even more important. A report showed that retail waste in the UK stood at 280,000 tonnes. Commonly cited as one of the worst culprits when it comes to ethical and sustainable criteria, the global fashion industry produces an estimated 92 million tonnes of textile waste. So, what can be done?
Start by conducting a waste management audit and assess your current levels of waste production and how you are currently dealing with it. Once complete, you should be able to identify areas to make targeted improvements straightaway. Of course, any waste management strategy is only as good as the waste carrier you work with – so only choose the best. Great Western Recycling has supported the sustainability of a host of UK retail businesses, delivering an excellent standard of service every time.
Waste Management Tips for Retail Businesses >
Boost Recycling
Plenty of waste materials produced by retail businesses can be effectively recycled. If you don’t already have a recycling strategy for your business, now is the time to start. From cardboard to paper to plastic to glass, much of the waste produced by retail businesses doesn’t have to end up in landfill. Show your customers you care and start handling these materials in a better way!
Use colour-coded bins and distribute them throughout your premises to ensure it is always clear and convenient for staff to segregate waste properly. It’s also worth providing training and education to ensure your employees are just as motivated as you are. With the whole organisation behind the strategy, it’s much more likely to be effective.
Need more help? Contact our friendly team!
Donate Unsold Stock
Many fashion retailers have come under fire for sending unsold stock to landfill or even burning it! But unsold products don’t have to go to waste. There are many people who would benefit from items that no longer hold any financial value for your business. From clothes to food (within its use-by date of course!) to books to games – products from any sector of the retail industry can be given to charity, food shelters, and people in need.
Offset Logistics & Shipping
Whether you’re an e-commerce business or have physical stores, all retail businesses have a supply chain and that supply chain inevitably generates carbon emissions. To combat this, retailers can mitigate the impact of their logistics by purchasing carbon offset credits from reputable suppliers, which often take the form of tree planting. With an offsetting policy in place, you may get to a point where you can advertise your shipping as carbon neutral – a huge draw for green-minded customers.
Offer Repairs
Many clothing retailers in particular are starting to offer a repair service to their customers in a bid to change the dominant fast-fashion narrative. Instead of clothing being an item to wear a few times and throw away, a repair service reframes your product as an item to love and cherish for years to come. In an industry conceived of as being inherently wasteful, a service like this can mark your business out as different, and be leveraged as a marketing tool to attract conscious consumers. Reduce, reuse, recycle? How about reducing, reusing, or repairing?
Manage Food Waste Better
Our final piece of advice is specifically for food retailers. Supermarkets and food retailers are throwing away the equivalent of 190 million meals a year (source). This is for various reasons, namely stock going past its sell-by date and strict criteria when it comes to fresh produce (the wonky veg conundrum). Managing your food waste better can save you money and boost your profile as a business. Food within its use-by date, as previously mentioned, could be sent to food shelters or other charities that can redistribute it to the hungry. Other food might be suitable to be used as animal feed. If none of these options are appropriate, food waste recycling can make a massive difference to the volume of waste you are sending to landfill. Redirected to an anaerobic respiration plant, your food waste can be used to generate green electricity for the National Grid!
Benefits of Food Waste Recycling >
Waste Management & Recycling for Retail Businesses
Great Western Recycling has been helping businesses in the retail industry boost their sustainability for years. Our waste management experts understand the unique pressures faced by this sector and work closely with companies at a range of scales to improve their waste and recycling processes.
Get in touch to start your sustainability journey today!
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