This National Recycling Week (13 – 19 November 2023), Australian retailer Officeworks has launched a partnership with Recycle Mate, designed to promote environmental sustainability and encourage responsible recycling.
The nationwide collaboration emphasises Officeworks’ ongoing dedication to helping its team members, customers and the community to build a more sustainable future.
The formalised partnership will raise awareness of Officeworks as a key destination for e-waste recycling through Recycle Mate’s flagship app and website; helping tens of thousands of Australians to recycle correctly.
Through Bring it Back and its partnership with for-purpose organisation Circonomy, Officeworks has already collected more than 10,000 tonnes of unwanted products, diverting them towards recycling, repair, or repurposing, and hopes to see this increase thanks to Recycle Mate.
Officeworks Chief Financial Officer Brendan Hargreaves said: “At Officeworks, people and the planet are at the heart of everything we do and partnerships with organisations like Recycle Mate, which shares our passion for working toward a more sustainable future, allows us to support our customers to make a positive difference for the planet. Creating a place where our community can safely recycle old, unwanted or damaged products such as laptops, tablets, ink cartridges and pens and markers is a small part of some of our much larger, long term business goals and supports our target of recycling 17,000 tonnes of waste by 2025.”
Recycle Mate Program Lead, Lara Barclay said: “We are thrilled to launch this partnership with Officeworks to enhance their Bring it Back Program through our dynamic educational approach and technology solutions that benefit store teams and the community.
“Recycle Mate is a national recycling education initiative working to remove the guesswork in recycling, no matter where you are in Australia. The free Recycle Mate app has been designed with cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology and Australia’s most comprehensive recycling database – right at your fingertips.
“The program is community driven so the more people get involved, the better it gets for everyone. Our partnership with Officeworks is working to enhance community awareness about the opportunity to return old items to Officeworks stores and direct them to their nearest options in one easy step – helping to prevent valuable materials from ending up in landfill.”
Officeworks’ People and Planet Positive commitments outlines 18 ambitious commitments across six pillars, providing a five-year roadmap for its team, partners, and communities to work towards. This includes supporting the aspirations of team members and communities, taking meaningful climate action, contributing to a more circular economy, and enabling customers to shop more sustainably.
To encourage sustainable behaviours, Officeworks has also launched an internal rewards program to recognise team members who actively demonstrate their support of the business’ People & Planet Positive goals.
The app gives users the ability to search for an item and provides disposal advice specific to their location. All 169 Officeworks stores across the country will be offered to those hoping to recycle items such as computers, laptops, printers, ink cartridges, pens and markers and other tech accessories through its free and accessible Bring it Back Program.
The ‘People & Planet Positive Pins’ are made from 100% recycled materials and are created by Lids for Kids. Two pins will be awarded as part of the reward and recognition program for team members – pink for Community Champions and green for Sustainability Champions.
Officeworks also offers a device trade-in program, providing consumers with the option to replace their old phones, tablets, laptops or smartwatches with something new ahead of the Black Friday and Christmas sales period. In partnership with Moorup, an Australian B-Corp certified technology company whose mission is to extend the lives of electronic devices, the trade-in program helps save Australians money just in time for Black Friday, while also helping the planet.
Visit the Officeworks website for more information on the retailer’s recycling initiatives and Bring it Back program. To download the Recycle Mate app and learn more about what can be recycled and where, visit www.recyclemate.com.au.
About Officeworks
Established in 1994 in Richmond, Victoria, Officeworks is committed to making bigger things happen for its customers, team, the community and stakeholders. It operates 167 stores across Australia, a website that is home to more than 40,000 products, a national call centre, and a business team that helps micro, small and medium-sized businesses start, run and grow and Australians to work, learn, create and connect.
Officeworks offers customers a wide range of office supplies, technology, furniture, art supplies, education resources and helpful services like print & copy and on-site and remote tech support through Geeks2U – delivering an experience that is easy and engaging, no matter how customers choose to shop.
Officeworks is focused on the safety, wellbeing and career progression of the more than 9,000 team members it employs. It’s also dedicated to operating in a sustainable manner, including building and maintaining meaningful connections with the communities in which it operates, fundraising for its national partners and local community groups, continuing to reduce its impact on the environment and source responsibly.
About Recycle Mate
The Recycle Mate national recycling education program provides a national platform for all governments and organisations to collaborate in providing the community with the best possible recycling and resource recovery information anywhere in Australia.
Information is delivered to the community through the Recycle Mate mobile app and website and by sharing information through our partner websites and programs. Recycle Mate is an initiative of the Australian Council of Recycling (ACOR) with funding support from the Australian Government’s Environment Restoration Fund and the NSW Government’s Environment Protection Authority (EPA) Waste Less Recycle More initiative. Adaptation Environmental Support is the program delivery partner.
