Officeworks is expanding its Bring it Back program to give school stationery a second life, keeping supplies in circulation and helping students who need them most.
Since 2015, Officeworks has operated its Bring it Back program accepting pens and markers, ink and toner cartridges, laptops, computers, tablets and technology accessories.
As part of this expansion, customers can now drop off pre-loved but still usable school supplies such as unused notebooks, and other quality items, at any Officeworks store via the Bring it Back chutes.
Through new partnerships with stationery recyclers Stationary Aid, stationery charity Give Write and circular economy practitioner Green Write, these items will be sorted, cleaned and repackaged and passed on to disadvantaged students, reducing waste and supporting a circular, sustainable future.
Alex White, Sustainability Manager at Officeworks, said by adding stationery to the program, Officeworks is giving customers a powerful way to reduce waste and support students.
The decision to expand follows a successful Stationery Aid and Give Write trial in Officeworks Queensland and Western Australia stores, where customers embraced the opportunity to give their school supplies a second life.
In Queensland, the trial collected enough stationery supplies to support 253 disadvantaged students with complete school booklists.
Alison Schutt, Co-founding Director at Stationery Aid, said the partnership with Officeworks helps both organisations support the most vulnerable and disadvantaged students to start the school year and transition to new schools throughout the year.
“We’ve seen how powerful local action can be and are excited to be scaling Queensland-wide to make an even bigger impact on the environment and students in need,” said Schutt.
In Western Australia, Give Write led a highly effective pilot in which enough products were collected to create more than 2300 stationery packs, enabling the distribution of school supplies valued at $102,000 to more than 4310 students
Many of the students who received the packs were living in regional and remote communities, including the southwest, Pilbara and Kimberley.
In Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and New South Wales, Officeworks is now partnering with Green Collect. Since the national rollout of the scheme in May, Green Collect has, helped divert valuable goods from landfill while providing employment and training opportunities for people facing barriers to work.
While the focus of this program is on reuse and repurposing, a small amount of recycling will occur for items that cannot be reused, ensuring all materials are handled responsibly and in line with circular economy principles.
For more information, visit: www.officeworks.com.au/
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