The Warehouse Group - Circular Economy in Retail

The Challenge –

Here in New Zealand, we discard 15.5 million tonnes of waste each year, that’s 3,200 kg for each of us. One of the fastest-growing causes of this waste is the clothes we buy, wear, and then discard.

An astounding 75% of textiles manufactured each year is sent to landfill by consumers, with the balance being lost in the form of production waste, along with a small percentage being donated and unfortunately less than 1% being regenerated into new fiber. It’s time to make a change. A change that pushes us, challenges us and inspires us. A change that realises the value in what we already have, before we throw it away.
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The Warehouse Group is committed to leading that change, to be here for good as New Zealand’s most sustainable retail company. With annual sales of more than 40 million units across their apparel and manchester ranges, the challenge they brought to XLabs was -

‘How might we maximise the life of textile items for customers, whilst reducing waste to landfill at the end of each product’s lifecycle?’.

The Journey –

Their XLabs team came from various departments and brands across their business, but they were all connected by the values they share and their passion for the environment.

They came to XLabs to learn, design, and build circular economy principles into their business model, alongside continuing to improve our customer experience. They saw this as a huge opportunity to help drive change and our transition to a more regenerative, circular economy.

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The Solution –

The solution they came up with at XLabs was the opportunity to close the loop on textile waste. With over 240 retail stores, The Warehouse Group has the physical footprint that can potentially provide a convenient and cost-effective model of recovering unwanted fabric products and redistributing revitalised fabric products.

The circular system they designed at XLabs could maximise the value of each product across a continuous lifecycle, and eliminate the need for unnecessary virgin material instead recovery and remaking.

“Our research shows that when customers learn about what we’re doing for our communities and environment, 77% feel better about shopping with us, and 42% want to shop with us more. Imagine what our customers will think when we tell them we’re going circular – that we can take their unwanted fabrics, turn them into desirable new products, create economical benefits and at the same time, significantly ease the burden on our planet.”