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Center for Sustainable Business | Reducing Material Waste

material wasteReducing Material Waste  

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Apparel companies are reducing material waste across the value chain prioritizing practices such as expanding standards to minimize waste, reducing on-product marketing, and partnering with fabric recycle and reuse programs for fabric discards. 


Sustainability Strategy: Reducing Material Waste 

Sustainability Strategy Definition: Company implements practices to mitigate waste in areas such as fabric, consumer clothing, peripherals, and packaging

Mediating Factors:
  • Operational Efficiency: Optimize corporate and supply chain efficiencies to lower cost and increase profits
  • Innovation: Create new revenue streams using sustainable business models
  • Customer Loyalty: Attract an increasing community of conscious buyers & consumers, while reducing retention costs
  • Employee Relations: Improve employee workplace culture and retain talent
  • Risk Management: Encourage risk mitigation and resilience within the value chain
  • Sales & Marketing: Increase volume of sales through brand and marketing policies
  • Stakeholder Engagement: Improve goodwill amongst the broader stakeholder community (i.e. NGOs)
  • Media Coverage: Increase a company’s media presence with the development of both traditional and social media content
  • Stakeholder Management: Improve goodwill amongst the broader stakeholder community (i.e. NGOs
  • Supplier Relations: Improve upon the relationships between the company and its suppliers

                              Mapping Sustainability Strategies, Practices, and Sub-Practices Across the Value Chain
Matrix

Reducing Material Waste Walkthrough

Interested in learning how your company can invest in sustainability strategies like reducing material waste? NYU Stern CSB offers a deeper dive into the practices, sub-practices, mediating factors surrounding this sustainability strategy.
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Monetization Toolkit

Interested in how we quantify apparel sustainability strategies? Explore NYU Stern CSB's Excel Toolkit that we use to help organizations understand how investing in sustainability initiatives can benefit their bottom line.
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