4 Reasons Why Retailers Should Be Recycling

Being both environmentally-friendly and sustainable have become important components for building a successful retail brand. With recycling targets becoming more ambitious, there are many opportunities for retailers to identify areas in which they could divert reclaimable material. Here's 4 reasons why we believe your retail store should be recycling.

#1 Generate Valuable Traffic

An invaluable motive for stores to offer retail recycling containers is the additional foot traffic it can generate. By providing your customers with an accessible and convenient place to recycle common materials, it immediately gives them a reason to step inside of your store. Additionally, recycling can help to create positive feelings of empowerment, pride and goodwill which could create an environment that nurtures the potential for store purchases. For example, Food Lion provide front-of-store recycling containers to incentivize their customers to pitch in with creating a healthy and sustainable community.

#2 Build Brand Loyalty

According to a study by Neilsen, consumers are willing to buy products repeatedly from companies that are mindful of their social and environmental footprint. It may be possible to influence your customer's purchasing behavior by personalizing your containers to visually communicate your commitment to the environment, helping to increase your store's sustainability credentials. Neilsen's study also suggests that consumers are beginning to favor brands that are dedicated to important causes like recycling, which could help to establish all-important brand loyalty among your visitors.

#3 Reduce Costs

Rolling out your retail recycling program to other common areas such as your stock room, break room and warehouse could also contribute to financial savings. Retail stores offer great opportunities to recycle mass amounts of packaging, paper, food waste and packing peanuts. The less you are sending to landfill could mean reduced hauling costs and landfill fees as well as less frequent collection for your store. It could also help to reduce storage space too!

#4 Help the Environment

Convenience and accessibility are two major motives for recycling. By providing communal recycling bins, you could help to integrate environmentally-responsible behavior into the daily lives of your customers. This could ultimately contribute to global efforts to conserve our planet’s natural resources and tackle climate change.

How will your store manage its waste in 2017?