How Big Brands Are Leading the Way in Reducing Landfill Waste

Every year, U.S. retailers generate over 250 million tons of waste, and shockingly, about 60% of that ends up in landfills. This waste crisis not only clogs landfills but also contributes to nearly 40% of the nation's methane emissions, harming the environment in the process.

One of the key contributors to this waste is the retail industry, which discards over $18 billion worth of unsold inventory each year. However, the tide is turning. Instead of sending excess stock and returns straight to the landfill, major retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Target are increasingly adopting sustainable practices to address this issue. They are redirecting inventory through wholesale liquidation programs, offering pallets and truckloads of discounted inventory to resellers. They're also ramping up efforts to donate products in good condition, recycle materials where possible, and destroy items that can't be reused.

In this blog, we’ll explore how major companies are tackling landfill waste, what liquidation and recycling strategies they’re implementing, and how wholesale liquidation can benefit resellers looking for quality products at a fraction of the cost—while supporting a more sustainable and eco-friendly retail model.

How Large Retailers Are Combatting Landfill Waste

The retail industry plays a major role in the waste crisis. U.S. retailers discard an estimated $18 billion worth of unsold inventory each year, much of which ends up in landfills instead of being reused or recycled. Big-box retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Target have been actively involved in tackling landfill waste. Instead of letting unsold inventory and returns go to waste, they’ve adopted more sustainable solutions like wholesale liquidation, donations, recycling, and destruction to ensure that their unsold goods don’t just end up in landfills.

Recycling Programs: Turning Waste into Resources

Recycling has long been a foundation of waste management for large retailers, especially in dealing with products that can be broken down and reprocessed into new materials. Retailers have found innovative ways to reduce their environmental footprint by focusing on electronics, plastics, and even furniture recycling. Here’s how some are embracing this process:

• Best Buy: One of the most prominent examples is Best Buy’s electronics recycling program. Since 2009, they have recycled over 2 billion pounds of electronics- that’s the equivalent of filling 6,944 football fields with waste! Their partnership with certified recyclers ensures that materials like plastics, metals, and glass are responsibly processed and repurposed.
• IKEA: IKEA is also a leader in recycling, but they focus heavily on furniture recycling. The company has committed to using 100% renewable or recycled materials in its products by 2030, and are continuously exploring ways to make their products more recyclable at the endow their life cycle.
• Walmart: Walmart has focused on recycling plastics and reducing waste from packaging. They have implemented zero-waste goals at many of their distribution centers, including recycling packaging materials and plastics.

The Role of Donations in Reducing Waste

Alongside recycling, Amazon, Walmart, and Target have all made significant moves in donations and liquidation to reduce waste and prevent unsold inventory or overstock from ending up in landfills.

Amazon: One of the most innovative ways Amazon is addressing waste reduction is through its partnership with Good360, a nonprofit organization helps distribute excess, unsold, and returned inventory to organizations in need. Through this partnership, Amazon donates items like electronics, toys, and furniture to nonprofits, preventing them from ending up in landfills while simultaneously supporting communities in need. It’s a great example of how a company can address both waste reduction and corporate social responsibility.

Walmart: Walmart is committed to minimizing waste through donations by patterning with local and national charities to give unsold or excess products a second chance. Food banks and community organization often benefit from Walmart’s donations of unsold groceries and seasonal products, ensuring that these items reach those in need rather than being thrown away.

Target: Target has been committed to reducing waste through its donation programs. Unsold product, are often donated to local charities through partnerships with organization like Feeding America and Good360, helping divert thousands of tons of unsellable inventory from landfills each year. By redistributing to those who need their products the most, they contribute to both waste reduction and community support.

What Happens to Overstock and Returns at Large Retailers?

Overstock and returns are inevitable parts of any retailer’s business cycle. While both are products that didn’t sell well within the expected timeframe or were returned by customers, the process for managing them can vary. Large retailers face a choice between donating, liquidating, or destroying these goods.

Donation vs. Destruction: The Ethical Dilemma

When retailers are faced with excess inventory or returned goods, they have to decide what to do with the products that can no longer be sold at full price. Many attempt to donate unsold inventory to charities or organizations, hoping to give back to the community. However, donating isn’t always an option due to product condition, expiration dates, or marketability.

On the other hand, some retailers choose to destroy unsellable stock or returned products to avoid any potential loss of brand value. Destruction, while it make seem like an easy solution, leads to unnecessary waste that could otherwise be avoided. The ethical dilemma arises when companies are forced to discard perfectly good products, even if they’re still in usable condition.

This is where liquidation enters that picture as a more responsible and sustainable option. Liquidation provides a way to recoup some value from overstock and returns while diverting them from landfills. By partnering with liquidation companies or resellers, retailers can keep these goods in circulation, either at discounted prices or for reuse in other markets.

Why Liquidation is the Sustainable Choice for Excess Stock and Returns

When overstock and returns are liquidated, they’re often sold in bulk inventory or pallets to resellers who specialize in selling goods at discounted prices. This is not only a sustainable option but also a profitable one for both retailers and resellers. Liquidation offers an eco-friendly way to redirect goods that can’t be sold at full price, often turning overstock, returns, and unsellable goods into resellable inventory. By working with resellers and wholesale buyers, retailers keep these goods in circulation, reducing the environmental impact of disposal and offering these products to new buyers at a discounted price. This sustainable approach prevents products from ending up in landfills and keeps valuable resources within the circular economy.

Liquidation vs. Landfills: A Better Alternative for Overstock and Returns

The decision between liquidation and sending goods to landfills is an important one. According to recent studies, retailers in the U.S. dispose of millions of tons of goods each year- many of which could easily be liquidated and put to better use.

Landfills contribute to environmental problems like pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and the depletion of valuable resources.

Through liquidation, retailers are able to keep these products out of landfills and give them a second life- whether that’s through reselling, repurposing, or recycling the materials. By making this choice, retailers contribute to a sustainable business model that benefits both their financial bottom line and the planet.

The Liquidation Process: How Retailers Make Waste Reduction Work

Amazon, Walmart, and Target have recognized their critical role in minimizing waste and have each created comprehensive sustainability strategies to help curb waste generation. These retailers have prioritized recycling, donations, and liquidation as key components of their zero-waste initiatives. While each company has its own approach, one strategy that they all have in common is leveraging liquidation as a means of clearing out excess inventory and unsellable merchandise.

Product Assessment: Identifying Overstock and Unsellable Goods

The first step in the liquidation process is determining which products are no longer viable for sale at full price. There are several key factors that play into this:

1. Overstock Due to Overproduction or Excess Demand

• Excess stock is one of the primary reasons for liquidated merchandise. This happens when a retailer overestimates demand and orders too much inventory.  For example, an electronics company may produce more units of a device than it can sell in a given time frame.
• Seasonality: Products that are seasonal (back-to-school supplies, winter clothing, or holiday decorations) can often be left with excess stock after the season ends. These products become unsellable at full price, requiring liquidation to recover some of the original cost.

2. Returns and Damaged Goods

• Returns account for a significant percentage of liquidation products. Customer returns can include opened packaging, damaged goods, or products that the customer simply no longer wants. If the product is in usable condition, it may be eligible for resale, but once items are opened or show signs of use, they become harder to move through traditional retail outlets.
• Product Condition: Retailers categorize good based on condition- whether they are refurbished, like-new, damaged, or expired.

3. Market Trends and Consumer Preferences

• Fast-moving consumer goods like clothing and food items can bee vulnerable to market shifts. For example, a clothing store can end up with a significant amount of apparel from last seasons collection, which isn’t on trend anymore. Liquidation allows retailers to clear inventory that no long aligns with the current consumer demand.

Palletizing and Bulk Sales: Moving Goods in Bulk

Once items are deemed excess or unsellable, they’re often packaged into pallets or truckloads for resale. This allows resellers to buy bulk inventory at discounted prices and sell it at a profit, which ultimately keeps products out of landfills.

1. Organizing Products for Liquidation-

• Sorting: Products are sorted into categories based on type; electronics, clothing, home goods etc and condition; new, damaged, refurbished etc. Retailers group similar items together for easier resale.
• Palletization: Products are then packaged into pallets or bulk truckloads. These bulk shipments are then sole to wholesale buyers or resellers who specialize in large quantities of unsellable inventory at discounted prices.
• Packaging and Labeling: When products are packaged, they often include detailed information about their condition, including any damage, expiration dats, or warrant statuses- this transparency is key for resellers.

2. Bulk Pricing and Profit Margins

• Discounting: Retailers sell the bulk goods at a significant discount compared to their original retail price. Liquidators often buy inventory at 10-40% of the original price, allowing them to resell at a markup. This enables resellers to turn a profit while offering consumers goods at much lower prices than traditional retailers would.
• Resellers and Wholesalers: These bulk goods are sole to liquidation wholesalers, third-party resellers, or discount retailers who specialize in buying liquidation pallets. They often work though online marketplaces or local outlet stores.

Distribution and Secondary Markets: Where Liquidated Goods End Up

Once liquidated merchandise are in the hands of resellers, they’re often sold through discount retailers, online marketplaces like eBay or Amazon, or warehouse sales. Resellers may break down the pallets to sell individual items, or they may sell in bulk to secondary markets, keeping the cycle of reuse going.

1. Secondary Marketplaces

• Many resellers buy liquidation goods to resell on platforms like eBay, Facebook Marketplace, or Amazon. For products like electronics, apparel, and home goods, these platforms are perfect for resellers to reach customers looking for discounted, quality merchandise. Resellers like Select Liquidation typically sell items in bulk lots or individual pallets, often at prices 30-50% lower than what they’d pay for new products at retail.
• Specialized Resellers: Some resellers specialize in certain categories or liquidated goods, like refurbished electronics or closeout clothing. These resellers focus on certain niches, maximizing profit by targeting customers who need specific products at a fraction of the retail price.

       2. Liquidation Auctions

• In some cases, liquidation companies auction off large lots of inventory to resellers or other businesses looking for bulk products. Online liquidation auctions are particularly popular, with platforms like liquidation.com offering entire truckloads of merchandise for bidding.

Liquidation and Recycling: Resellers Can Play a Key Role in Reducing Waste

Amazon is a retail giant that has made liquidation an integral part of its waste management strategy. Known for its massive inventory, Amazon often faces the challenge of dealing with overstock and returns, especially when products are unsellable through their primary marketplace.

We already discussed their partnership with the nonprofit organization, Good360. They help distribute unsold goods to those in need preventing these items from going to landfills. However, not all products are suitable for donation. When donations isn’t feasible, Amazon turns to liquidation to move excess stocks.

Through liquidation, products that can no longer be sold on Amazon’s platform are sold in bulk truckloads to resellers and wholesale buyers, ensuring that the products are reused and not wasted. These liquidation truckloads, which often include Amazon’s overstock and returns, are a popular option for resellers and businesses looking to access discounted goods and merchandise.

Liquidation Wholesale: A Smart Way to Profit and Reduce Waste

Buying liquidation truckloads from major retailers allows resellers to stock their shelves with high-demand products at a fraction of the original cost. Whether it's overstock, returned merchandise, or seasonal items, liquidation offers a sustainable way to source inventory that might otherwise be discarded. This approach helps keep excess products out of landfills, promotes recycling, and gives businesses the chance to profit from goods that would’ve been wasted. Some benefits resellers have are:

• Low Cost Inventory: Liquidation allows resellers to source products at a lower cost than buying new, which boosts their profitability. With lower inventory costs, resellers have more flexibility in setting competitive prices and maximizing their margins.
• Wide Product Selection: Buyers can access a variety of items across different categories ranging from apparel, general merchandise, grocery products and so on. Resellers can diversify their inventory quickly without committing to large volumes of one particular product.
• Ability to Scale Quickly: Those who want to expand their businesses can use wholesale liquidation to stock their shelves without having to wait for long lead times from manufacturers or distributors. This quick inventory turnaround helps them scale their operations efficiently.

Conclusion: How Wholesale Liquidation Helps Retailers Reduce Waste and Boost Profits

As major retailers take strides to reduce landfill waste, the opportunities for resellers and wholesalers to get involved in sustainability have never been greater. With retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Target leading the charge in adopting more responsible waste management practices, wholesale liquidation has become an effective tool for minimizing waste while offering valuable merchandise at a fraction of the price.

For resellers, working with trusted wholesale suppliers is an impactful way to access quality inventory and support sustainable business practices. Not only can you contribute to a circular economy, but you also position your business to thrive by offering discounted, high-quality products to your customers. The growing focus on recycling, donations, and liquidation ensures that goods that might have otherwise ended up in landfills are given a second life, benefiting both the environment and your bottom line.

By participating in the wholesale liquidation process, reseller can help tackle the growing waste crisis while building a business that prioritizes both profitability and sustainability. Whether you're new to the industry or looking to scale your business, wholesale liquidation offers a unique opportunity to source discounted inventory and reduce retail waste. Engaging in liquidation sales allows you to provide high-quality products to consumers at a fraction of the original cost, all while contributing to a more eco-friendly business model.