Regulated waste diversion is changing

Joey D'Alesio

Jul 13, 2022 2:40:37 PM

And we are part of the change.

Lay of the land(fill)

There is a misconception throughout the retail community that diversion pathways for regulated waste don’t exist.

Take, for example, the collection of unsellable, out-of-season fragrance in the back of a store. In the past, these products would have likely been labeled “regulated waste” and shipped to an incinerator. Not exactly a sustainability report highlight. But “burn it” is last in our playbook.

Product information is bolstering a big change in waste diversion.

Retailers using the Back of Store System (BOSS) rely on product classification data provided by brands and verified by Smarter Sorting.

One of our partners, a major retailer with $150 billion in revenue and 500+ US locations, requires back-of-store management for 10% of all retail products on their shelves.

With Smarter Sorting’s BOSS, they achieved:

93% increase in diversion to recycling, donation or reuse
80,000+ products donated in a single month
30% reduction in toxic waste
77% reduction in item processing times
100% visibility into affected waste streams

The BOSS communicates with our Product Intelligence Platform™ to extract millions of data points, dictating the most compliant and sustainable waste stream for a regulated product.

Why should YOU care about waste diversion?

There’s value beyond the numbers. Quite simply, stakeholders care about doing what’s right. Consumers expect both brands and retailers to prioritize waste reduction and diversion.

Deloitte’s 2022 survey on consumer sustainability behaviors found that circularity is growing in importance. This is evident in the top ten actions consumers are taking to lead more sustainable lifestyles, three of which are:

Recycling or composting household waste
Reducing food waste
Choosing brands that have environmentally sustainable practices/ values

And employees care too!

One of our national retail partners has experienced increased employee engagement with our specific and accurate classifications. Because making better decisions for the environment has never been easier.

Brace for impact

Even companies with existing sustainability programs may need help.

Another key finding from the Deloitte report was lack of trust. Nearly half of consumers either don’t know the business commitments they can trust or just don’t trust businesses when it comes to sustainability.

We translate data. And we do it transparently so retailers can benchmark their EHS/ESG goals down to the product level. Take the next step to achieve your public sustainability goals and check out our impact journey.