How the circular economy can save some of the 5 billion tonnes of “returns” from landfill

According to BBC Earth, approximately 5 billion tonnes of “returns” end up in landfill sites worldwide every year.

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Picture the scene. You order a new pair of shoes, only to try them on and realize they don’t fit. Your solution is simple. You carefully package them back in their box, print off a returns label, and send them back to the retailer’s warehouse, awaiting a new order. 

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But this isn’t what happens. 

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Most returns end up in landfills after being shipped throughout Canada, the US, and even internationally a few times, racking up a significant carbon footprint in the process. 

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Why do brand-new items end up in landfill sites, and what can you do to curve this worrying trend? Join us as we introduce you to reverse logistics and explain how McBain Recoveries plays a crucial role in the circular economy. 

Why do returns end up in landfills? 

It’s a crucial question. After all, when you return an item of clothing, a pair of shoes, or any other item to a retailer like Amazon after trying them on, why doesn’t the retailer keep hold of these items for re-sale? 

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Some returns are damaged or defective, and clothing brands don’t have the technology - or, indeed, the compulsion - to repair them for resale. 

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But even brand-new, undamaged items are sent off to the dump. Due to the nature of fast fashion and the seasonal change of clothing lines online, by the time you return that pair of shoes or dress, it’s no longer in season and has no place in the retailer’s stock. 

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Many retailers simply don’t allocate appropriate budgets to deal with the volume of returns. As such, in many instances, it’s much easier and cheaper to hire a truck to take the items directly to the landfill than to sort, re-package, and add them back to the shelves for resale. 

What is the circular economy, and is it a solution to returns recycling? 

At McBain Recoveries, we’re proud to be at the beating heart of Canada’s circular economy. We offer a full range of services and take on customer-returned products from Amazon and other e-commerce companies. 

We then repackage or repurpose much of the stock that we take on before selling it. We’re proud to utilize recycled materials when we send all items on, further reducing the environmental impact of the logistics sector. 

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The contribution of our family-run business significantly reduces the amount of unwanted stock that goes to landfill in Canada every year and we believe it to be the most viable solution to combat the destructive waste that accumulates from consumer returns each year. 

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Learn more about McBain Recoveries’ crucial role within the circular economy, and contact us to find out more about recycling returns to prevent them from going to landfill sites in Canada.