How Retailers Can Manage Diminishing Returns on Waste Diversion Goals
Meeting the first 80% of your retail waste minimization goals might be surprisingly simple—but how can you close the gap on the remaining 20%?
This Week's Contributor
Retail Waste Goals and Barriers to Circularity
Sustainability ratings and reporting have led retailers to publicly disclose information about their waste minimization goals, making them accountable for progress on meeting them. According to a sample of retailers participating in APTIM’s inaugural Environmental Retail Index (formerly Sustainable Retail Index), 71% of respondents have a zero waste or waste minimization goal, but only 20% of them publicly committed to diverting more than 80% of their waste.
In conversation with our retail partners, we uncovered a universal challenge with crossing this threshold of diversion, which often requires uncertain and costly investments in materials, innovation, and infrastructure. These are common challenges in achieving zero waste and overcoming barriers to circularity in retail. How can compliance and sustainability leaders at retail companies effectively overcome this barrier to circularity so they can proudly communicate their progress?
Understand the Current Composition of Retail Waste
The first step in minimizing your remaining waste is to understand what it consists of, which can vary significantly by retailer, region, and season. Accurate material characterization data serves as a critical baseline for tracking improvements and enables your team to identify the top contaminant(s) of concern, such as composite packaging, e-waste, organics, or construction waste.
Use Waste Audits to Identify Top Contaminants
Conducting a pulsed series of waste audits at strategic retail locations throughout the year can help quantify common materials in your waste stream. Many waste streams may look alike on the surface but can reveal cost-saving opportunities when broken down (e.g., recyclable cardboard vs. contaminated cardboard). By knowing what makes up the largest percentage of your waste, you can prioritize strategies for waste reduction efforts where they will have the most impact.
Here is an example of how to harness waste audit results to drive organizational sustainability progress from CVS Health:
“Following waste audits at two corporate campuses in late 2024, we introduced composting for organic waste in the cafeterias at our Rhode Island campus and replaced plastic service ware with fully compostable alternatives. Early results indicate successful adoption of the program by corporate colleagues and an estimated 17,000 pounds of food waste diverted. Waste audits will be conducted in 2025 to validate results, and we will look to expand the program to our Hartford, Connecticut campus. We are striving for TRUE Zero Waste certification as we implement and expand programs.”
Identify the Root Cause of Waste Diversion Challenges
Once you have identified the top materials of concern, you can begin to ask why. For instance, if 40% of a retail store’s waste is cardboard, you might ask: Does the store have balers in place to compact the waste? Do store employees receive training on how to manage cardboard waste material? Are employees consistently following protocols outlined in your cardboard recycling program?
The goal here is to evaluate operational inefficiencies or contamination issues that could be easily fixed to increase diversion before turning to more logistically complex (and potentially costly) waste diversion strategies for retailers.
Evaluate End Markets and Diversion Opportunities
After considering operational efficiencies, the next step is to evaluate how to deal with remaining waste through alternative end markets. According to Republic Services’ Circularity Index Report, 88% of retailers plan to increase investments in circularity year over year. These efforts range from upstream prevention to downstream management such as:
- Preventing waste generation by transitioning to alternative models (e.g., reusables). Example: A major grocery retailer transitioned to reusable folding plastic crates to ship eggs and produce, resulting in an 85% reduction in packaging waste and the prevention of 37 million eggs from damage in the first year of the program.
- Reducing waste, particularly for owned products, through design and materials innovation. Example: One big-box retailer redesigned over 1,280 packages to reduce size and materials from 2017 to 2023.
- Donating products with little to no market value. Example: One major fashion retailer donated 250 tons of used clothing and accessories in 2025.
- Recycling materials that cannot be otherwise redesigned or recirculated. Example: One major retailer recycled nearly 5 million shopping bags in just one year and worked with partners to repurpose the material for plastic decking and other uses.
These examples demonstrate how closing the retail circularity gap requires both innovation and industry collaboration.
*Definitions for organics recycling versus composting were not specified for survey participants, and responses are presumed to be based on language used in hauler diversion programs.
Disclose Challenges and Invest in Collective Action
Diverting 100% of waste from landfills may be impossible in the short term; even TRUE Zero Waste certifications acknowledge a 90% diversion rate as “zero waste.” Disclosing waste streams your company is struggling to manage through public reports or industry forums can support collective action in retail sustainability for industry-wide progress over time.
Examples of effective collective action solutions aimed at improving retail waste diversion rates include:
- Collaborating with industry groups to advocate for the transition to alternative products (e.g., post-consumer recycled materials) at affordable prices. For instance, the Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag, led by Target, CVS, and Kroger, uses in-market tests to identify, test, and scale alternative designs for traditional shopping bags.
- Supporting consumer education on proper recycling practices with standardized labeling. Lowe’s has a 2025 target for 100% of private brand packaging to include the How2Recycle label (developed by the retail-led Sustainable Packaging Coalition), and it reported meeting 85% of this target in its 2024 Corporate Responsibility Report.
While collective action solutions may not produce immediate improvements in your diversion rate, they are critical for producing longer-term, longer-lasting impact in advancing zero waste in retail.
Partner with APTIM to Close the Gap on Retail Waste Diversion
Experts at APTIM are eager to support your company in meeting its waste minimization goals. We offer virtual and on-site waste audits for retailers, data assurance and reporting, strategic implementation, and retail sustainability and compliance solutions to identify cost-effective solutions for retail waste minimization and circularity in retail.
If you are a retailer interested in advancing waste minimization efforts in 2026, reach out to our team at EnvironmentalRetail@APTIM.com.
Learn more about APTIM’s sustainability solutions.
Published October 2025
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