Recently, major retailers have also begun accepting goods for recycling. Pioneered by companies like Ikea, The North Face and Patagonia, used products are being bought back for resale to consumers. More Staples accepts any brand and type of electronic at its stores for free recycling. Apple recycles its own products, providing a gift card if there is residual value in the item being recycled, while Best Buy has a similar offer for gently-used electronics. H&M accepts used clothing of any size, type or brand in its recycling boxes at its retail stores, Nike accepts used shoes at its retail outlets, and American Eagle takes used jeans, to name just a few retailers trying to stem the tide of cast-offs heading straight to the landfill.
The typical U.S. citizen throws away 70 pounds of clothing a year, reports the Council on Textile Recycling. By comparison, Americans donate or recycle an average of 12 pounds of clothing, footwear and household textiles, a fraction of what they discard. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates are that as much as 75% of waste that ends up in landfills could be recycled, but we only recycle about 30%
Part of the shift has to do with environmental awareness. The volume of garbage going into landfills has been rising consistently, with furniture and textiles making up a large percent of cast-offs (but not as much as paper, surprisingly). Municipalities in some areas also serve as recycling operations, taking everything from paper to glass, plastic and hazardous materials for processing, while some take the concept a step further and allow residents to recycle furniture, books, clothing and anything else they have to purge from their own households.
Read the full story at https://www.forbes.com/sites/marciaturner/2018/08/07/a-twist-on-recycling-retailers-rebuying-their-merchandise-for-resale/#57b6dd4b4f11.