More than $2.5 billion in unsold brand new goods wasted each year

Locked away in a warehouse in Sydney is hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of new TVs, fridges and couches. And it’s all heading to an unlikely place.

Most Aussies could not comprehend why anyone would dump a brand new fridge, microwave, clothes or toiletries in landfill but that’s exactly what happens to many items that retailers can’t sell.

Unless stores are willing to store unsold items in warehouses indefinitely or can find a market for them overseas, these rejects of Boxing Day sales and “further discounted” items, ultimately end up at the dump. A new report from Deloitte Access Economics estimates the value of these unsold goods to be more than $2.5 billion a year.

Charity Good360 Australia, is trying to stop the staggering waste and to save goods from being thrown out, instead redirecting them to Aussies in need, including those impacted by recent fires and floods.

Their main warehouse in Sydney has become filled with everything from electronics, furniture and white goods, to clothing and personal care items — everything that stores such as Big W and Harvey Norman can’t sell — even if they are heavily discounted.

“It’s everything you and I could buy,” Good360 founder and managing director Alison Covington told news.com.au.

Some of the most extravagant donated items include items like mattresses, furniture, washing machines, kettles and toasters. These are often given to people who are have lost their homes and almost everything in them.

“These are gamechangers for people who are trying to rebuild their lives,” Ms Covington said.

More recently it visited flood-ravaged areas of New South Wales including Lismore to deliver brand-new mattresses and other items to those who had lost almost everything.

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New mattresses being unloaded to help people in Griffith, NSW. Picture: Good360 Australia

East Lismore mother-of-three Lara Bell, 34, received brand new single mattresses for her children from Good360 and told news.com.au she was overwhelmed by the generosity.

“At a time like this you are grateful to get anything, but to get new items is just overwhelming. The generosity gives you hope (during a time) when you feel like you’re starting again and wondering how you can get back to where you were,” she said.

She said her nine-year-old in particular was traumatised by the experience of escaping from flood waters during the recent Lismore event.

“He was pretty freaked out by the experience and doesn’t want to go home,” Ms Bell said.

The family’s 100-year-old home had never been flooded before but they had to be rescued after finding themselves in waist-high water. They climbed out the kitchen window and were collected by someone on a kayak.

Ms Bell said the family had lost almost everything and being able to put the kids on new mattresses when they returned to their house would make a difference.

“To have the house feeling like a nice, fresh new start rather than cobbling together what you need to survive, it just feels really important and hopeful, rather than depressing.”

Lara Bell’s family had to escape from her East Lismore home through the kitchen window during recent flooding

Lara says they have lost almost everything.

In 2019/20, Good360 delivered $74.7 million dollars of goods to over 3000 charities including the Salvation Army, Save the Children, Pyjama Foundation and Meals on Wheels.

Ms Covington believes there is a lot more potential, with a Deloitte report commissioned by Good360 finding surplus goods across the industry could total more than $2.5 billion a year.

“This report makes it very clear that the amount of unsold household goods wasted each year is huge,” Ms Covington said.

“We also know that demand for these goods by charities and schools supporting their local communities is huge.

“Good360 provides the solution, we connect surplus with need – our goal is for nothing useful to lie unused.”

Ms Covington hopes to get more retailers on-board to achieve a ‘circular economy’ for unsold household goods, although it is difficult to scale its operations up further as Good360 has only received minimal government funding support.

“Good360 has the ability to scale, we are an efficient charity with every $1 of funding donated we can match $20 of essential household goods to a person in need,” Ms Covington said.

“We are hoping the Deloitte Access Economics report will show the Federal Government the benefits of funding to scale our model to reach more communities. There are currently so many people needing help – it just makes sense that we redirect these unsold goods to assist Aussies doing it tough.” 

The Good360 warehouse. Picture: Supplied

Redirecting a larger amount of the unsold goods to people in need would also see governments save money and support the circular economy.

In 2021 alone, governments across Australia gave $2.7 billion to charities, of which approximately $400 million was used to purchase household goods for their clients.

Since it began operating in 2015, Good360 has collected more than $240 million worth of goods from businesses around Australia.

Good360 already works with retailers including Big W, Best and Less, Colgate, Bic, Linen House, Optus, Booktopia, Clarins skin care, Koh cleaning products, Tempur mattresses, The Body Shop, Dettol, King Living and Harvey Norman, to collect excess stock by the pallet-load and make this available to charities through its e-commerce website.

The charities can basically add items to their “shopping baskets” and have them shipped around Australia — the difference is, they don’t have to pay for them.

The demand is so great that as soon as items are listed on the website, they are being claimed by charities.

“Our warehouse is large but we move things out fast. We work at scale and speed, matching 20 items every minute,” Ms Covington said.

“As fast as it’s coming into the warehouse, it’s going out — it’s like click frenzy for charities.”

Good360’s Wyrallah Road hub in Lismore. Picture: Good360 Australia

Big W managing director Pejman Okhovat said the retail chain had donated more than $81 million worth of goods, spanning 8.5 million items, in the last four years. He said the business had a goal of achieving zero waste by 2025.

“We have been working with Good360 as a zero waste partner over the last four years to ensure all our products have a ‘first life’ with nothing left unused, significantly reducing landfill,” he said.