Sustainability
Out of the waste stream and into the mainstream
As big businesses and major UK retailers begin to look seriously at the circular economy, Products of Change explores the concept of ‘competing differently’ and the implications of placing circularity right in the mainstream
O
ne of the biggest stories to emerge from the tail end of last year was news that the online giant Amazon was taking supply chain issues into its own hands with the manufacture of its own shipping containers and the charter of its own cargo ships. It’s a move that makes perfect sense. This is a business that has been chartering its private cargo ships and planes for years now. In fact, since 2017 Amazon has been doing over 10,000 containers per month with small and medium-sized Chinese exporters, placing it within the top five transportation companies in the Trans Pacific. It’s little wonder then, that the latest in the
retail behemoth’s ocean activity has caught the attention of analysts the world over this Christmas. And those in the sustainability sphere are no exception. In adapting its business model to a new supply chain standard – one that has been carved out by a global pandemic and a surge in online orders and increased demand on shipping - Amazon has placed itself at the centre of new visions of supply chain efficiency.
34 | toy news | Jan/Feb 2022
Those visions, as highlighted recently by
Walmart Canada’s category manager and sustainability champion, Ivo Petroff, centre predominantly on the door that Amazon’s move now leaves open to the concept of ‘shared resources’, an essential of the shared economy and the call for greater collaboration between companies when it comes to shipping.
Should Amazon start selling its excess capacity to competitors, the potential to remove thousands of trucks from the roads and smaller ships from the ocean’s traffic, is too big an opportunity to miss. And when there’s money to be made in the process, it’s likely not one that will be squandered. But let’s bring this conversation a little
closer to home; where does this very idea of ‘competing differently’ sit within the toy industry? Well, if the iconic department store, Selfridges has anything to say on the matter, that’ll be front and centre of the UK’s high street. Yes, this Christmas, Selfridges took
great leaps forwards in a reconfiguration of its Christmas shopping approach, and,
as part of the London landmark retailer’s new sustainability campaign, Project Earth, partnered with the London-based organisation The TOY Project to bring the concept of a circular Christmas to shoppers over the festive season. Under the partnership, the pair launched a pop-up TOY Project shop to sell pre- loved and second hand toys to Christmas shoppers, in a move to highlight how consumers can achieve a sustainable Christmas. The fact that the project landed in the same year that media headlines had been threatening of ‘shortages of the latest toy releases’ thanks to those aforementioned shipping issues, only acted to give the campaign extra clout. “What could be better than being in Selfridges reminding and educating shoppers the importance of not always having to buy new,” says Jane Garfield, charity director of The TOY Project. “And the reception has been amazing. We have had an incredibly positive response from Selfridges staff, managers, and creatives, as well as huge public support and
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