There's a good chance your holiday returns will end up in the landfill.
Optoro, a tech company that helps major retailers manage their returns, says 5-billion pounds of returned items end up in the trash.
Not only are these returns environmentally unfriendly, but they are costing retailers a fortune.
They say consumers return about $380 billion worth of goods, $90 billion of which are processed during the holiday.
Only half of returns make it back onto shelves, the company estimates. The rest, due to circumstances such as damages or opened boxes, take a different path:
- One quarter of items are returned to the manufacturer
- Many returns are sold for pennies to liquidators and discounters
- They end up at wholesalers, who send the goods to pawn shops, dollar stores or out of the country
Ultimately, it's a long and expensive process for retailers. And, if the item is damaged or unpackaged, there's a good chance it'll end up in the trash!