3 Easy Steps To Align Emergency Liquidation and Recycling

Why Emergency Liquidation and Recycling Go Hand in Hand and How To Make It Happen

In the aftermath of a disaster, natural or otherwise, getting your stores back up and running quickly and safely are always the primary concern. Merchandise and asset emergency liquidation are critical elements of the cleanup process, but the last thing on most store managers’ minds in these situations is recycling. The common misconceptions here are that recycling is going to cost more money and take more time.

Because of this, inventory that could be recycled or re-used is sent to the landfill, potentially leaving large sums of money on the table. More importantly: the environmental impact of sending a store’s worth of merchandise inventory and capital assets to a landfill will negatively impact the operation’s sustainability initiatives such as its carbon neutrality goal.

What some retail operations oversee is that recycling can be an integral part of any emergency liquidation project decision process without costing any additional money or time.

From day one of the cleanup process, recycling should be top of mind. If you start the process with sustainability in mind, recycling naturally becomes a part of the project and you can generate substantial savings. Yes, it’s easier to just throw everything away and write the inventory off as a loss. But “easy” is rarely the best approach.

Here is a 3-step approach for integrating recycling economic and for making waste diversion a standard part of your emergency liquidation projects.

1. Salvage What Can be Reused:

Being able to quickly identify what can be salvaged for reuse is essential to minimizing the amount of merchandise or assets sent to the landfill.  For example, identifying the cooling and refrigeration equipment that can be removed, sanitized, and replaced instead of landfilling them.  Another example could be packaged goods that were not damaged or even cleaning products that could be used to clean the store instead of tossing everything into a trash dumpster.

The key to work with a company that provides you with options so you have all information needed to decide what can be reused vs. what needs to be disposed of.

2. Identify Inventory and Assets that Should Be Recycled:

Certain assets in your stores like shelving and fixtures are in fact easily recyclable materials. Also, certain inventory in the store is recyclable, like plastic bins, metal products, packaged and unpackaged food products, etc. Taking the time to sort these assets and inventory can be offset by the return on the value of the recycled goods while diverting waste from the landfill will help conserve natural resources, save water and energy.

3. Identify Inventory and Assets that Should be Donated:

Depending on the condition of the goods after a disaster, some products could be donated. The advantage of donation over landfilling is the availability of tax credits you wouldn’t normally get from simply sending everything to a landfill. Donation programs also give your locations an opportunity to be a part of the local community.

Work with a Company That Handles Emergency Liquidation and Recycling:

To really make recycling work with inventory liquidation, the vendors you choose will really make all the difference. If you choose a liquidation company that doesn’t focus on recycling, it’s going to be hard to change how they typically go about handling a liquidation project. If you hire a recycling company that isn’t experienced with emergency liquidation the project may take longer. The solution here is to find a company that handles both aspects. Experienced, qualified vendors like 1GNITE will handle the time-sensitive aspects of emergency liquidation while presenting you with options with evident environmental and social benefits without adding time or money to your project.

Additional resources to learn more about 1GNITE’s nationwide liquidation program and emergency cleaning solution are available.  If you want to get started, simply fill out the form below to contact us.