A disturbingly common practice among businesses getting rid of unsold merchandise is to damage the items before throwing them away, so they can't be reclaimed.
This doesn't just happen in America; it's an international problem. One Redditor shared a Canadian article in French that details the same wasteful practice.
What's happening?
The post appeared on r/Anticonsumption. "It's infuriating enough that stores throw out perfectly good products that didn't sell; now they cut them into pieces before throwing them out so people won't go dumpster diving to use them," said the original poster.
For proof, they attached a screenshot of the beginning of an article from Quebec. "For non-French people, the article talks about some products (boots and bags) found in the dumpsters of a Winners (Canadian Marshalls) that had been broken with a knife," they said.
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Similar photos have been taken outside a Barnes & Noble, and one worker in a Victoria's Secret filmed herself doing the same thing.
Why is damaged, discarded merchandise important?
Every handbag and shoe that each store sells takes materials, energy, and labor to create, as well as gas to transport it to the store. When a company puts all those resources into a product just to throw it away, that wastes those resources and raises the store's operational costs, which raises prices for all its products.
That doesn't even cover the extra burden placed on the environment as companies harvest even more resources and cause even more pollution to make these excess products that are discarded.
Is the company doing anything about this?
Winners' parent company is TJX Companies, which also operates TJ Maxx, HomeSense, and Marshalls.
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"TJX is committed to pursuing initiatives that are environmentally responsible and smart for our business," says the TJX website. "We focus our program's strategy and goals in three areas: climate and energy, waste management, and responsible sourcing."
As part of that goal, the company says it intends to "divert 85% of our operational waste from landfill by 2027." That includes promising to "explore opportunities for certain geographies to expand merchandise recovery and reuse programs."
If that means the company intends to stop destroying and throwing away perfectly good merchandise, it clearly isn't there yet.
What can I do about the waste?
Next time you want to shop, look for an ethical provider with less wasteful practices, such as a company that donates unused merchandise to shelters.
You can also shop at thrift stores — not only are there great bargains, but you can rest assured that you're keeping items from being thrown away and reducing the demand for new items.
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