Despite AI’s profound impact on business practices, impactful waste management still seems out of reach.

At Reconomy, a leading waste management solutions company in the UK, we have three critical considerations for reducing waste during future festive seasons.

1. Learn from past trends.

Overestimating the amount of stock needed can produce gigantic amounts of waste in terms of plastics, with food ending up in landfills.

Unsold stocks also contribute to massive revenue loss, with experts stating that ‘UK retail plc’ could be facing a deficit of up to £2.8 billion in unsold and excess stock this year.

This can be avoided by preparing your business for the season by looking back over previous years.

Having your operations team consult your books and analyse your sales data can help give you an idea of how much you sold previously – to provide you with an advantage before the Christmas rush rolls around.

From there, you can create a plan on how much stock to produce or order to avoid overwhelming waste levels. This can involve looking at industry and market trends to see estimates of interest in your product and comparing that to how much you’ve sold in previous years, enabling you to provide an accurate scope for how your preparation should line up this year.

Make paper and plastic a thing of the past.

Paper and plastic are two of the most significant contributors to global waste. And with so many toys and presents around Christmas being produced using non-biodegradable materials like polymers and plastics, the Wildlife and Countryside Link has estimated that 114,000 tonnes of plastic will likely become waste this season.

In addition, paper waste doesn’t just come from the wrapping paper used to dress up these gifts; it can come from businesses using paper processes as part of their admin. To avoid using as much, looking into digitising these processes where possible to reduce the amount of paper used can produce a positive effect.

Sometimes it’s unavoidable to use anything other than plastic for packaging and shipping purposes since it’s solid and reliable. However, where you can, implementing sustainable and recyclable materials can significantly reduce the amount of waste created by your business and products.

3. Offer a festive buy-back scheme.

Repeat customers may have older released products that have become outdated over time. There are various ways to inspire customer retention and loyalty while also showing consideration for a more sustainable and cyclical approach to products.

This could be as simple as customers bringing their previous items with receipts into your stores and outlets to receive store credit or a discount on any items purchased. It could be especially prevalent around Christmas since customers will be looking at ways to save money and feel less retail guilt.

Larger global brands like IKEA have begun to incorporate these ideals into their operations to contribute to a more sustainable future and offer store credit to those who participate.

Nathan Gray is head of sustainability at Reconomy

How firms can avoid repeat of Christmas waste nightmare in 2023: Nathan Gray