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Industry profile
New York City, with its “mom and pop” grocery stores, specialty boutiques, and big retail chains, sets the standard for the national retail industry.
According to the New York State Department of Labor there are more than 260,000 people employed in the retail industry in New York City. Here is a breakdown of the largest employers, by type of establishment:
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Establishment
food & beverage
clothing & accessories
health & personal care
general merchandise
sporting goods, hobbies, books & music
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Number of employees
59,400
59,000
31,800
26,900
13,200
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According to the New York City Department of Sanitation’s NYC Waste Composition Study (1990), general and food retail establishments account for approximately 9 and 11 percent, respectively, of the City’s commercial waste stream. The composition of the waste stream breaks down as follows:
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Type of waste
paper (includes corrugated cardboard)
food & organics
plastic
glass
metals
miscellaneous
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General retail
68%
6.1%
8.4%
5.2%
2%
10.3%
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Retail food
56.6%
42.2%
5.6%
1.5%
3.3%
0.9%
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Waste prevention tips for the retail industry
Well aware that reducing waste will increase profit margins, most retailers are constantly striving to make their business run more efficiently. It is important to recognize that waste prevention is as much about what you buy as what you throw away. For money-saving tips on reducing waste in your operation, check out the topics below:
 temperature control
product packaging
embracing technology
product stewardship
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TEMPERATURE CONTROL
Maintaining a comfortable temperature within your store is important to customer comfort, worker productivity, and in some instances, product quality. The energy your store uses can take a big bite out of your operating budget. For information on improving temperature control and increasing efficiency of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, visit energy efficiency in waste less at agencies & schools.
For supermarkets and other retail food establishments, refrigeration costs can account for up to 50 percent of utility bills. If you are operating enclosed coolers or refrigerated display cases, consider some of the following performance-enhancing tips:
Follow a regular preventive maintenance schedule for compressors and coolers.
Group foods by temperature requirement, and check the refrigerator case temperature regularly.
Install glass doors on open refrigerator cases to reduce energy costs by as much as 30 percent. Install vinyl strips to prevent cold air loss by up to 75 percent.
Consider installing energy-saving devices if using anti-condensate (or “anti-sweat”) heaters in cooler doors or cabinets. Such devices control usage so that heating levels match pre-specified humidity levels.
Install high-efficiency compressors to save 5 to 7 percent on refrigeration bills.
Use floating head pressure in all compressor systems.
Try multiplexing. Mount several compressors on the same rack, using common refrigerant suction and discharge headers, to save 2 to 5 percent on refrigeration bills.
Install split-capacity fan motors for payback in just a few months.
Reduce cooling costs with economizer cycle control. If outdoor air is below a present temperature and humidity limit, the return, exhaust, and outdoor air dampers adjust to use supplemental outdoor air, reducing the compressor load.
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PRODUCT PACKAGING
Product and distribution packaging make up more than 50 percent of most businesses’ waste stream. Although both types of packaging serve a purpose — protecting the product from damage during delivery and making the product ready for display upon delivery — the cost to manage, recycle, and/or dispose of these by-products can be excessive. Look at the money-saving tips below to see how you can reuse or reduce the amount of packaging coming into your business.
Talk to your vendors about tailoring the packaging of merchandise to meet your storage or display needs. Require vendors to eliminate non-essential hangers, plastic bags, cardboard sleeves and inserts, tissue, pins, etc. Why pay for the labor to remove secondary packaging that will end up being discarded anyway? See case studies to learn what other businesses have done to reduce incoming packaging waste.
Consider selling small items in open or bulk bins.
Reuse incoming packaging (such as foam peanuts, paperboard, paper stuffing, and corrugated cardboard boxes) for outgoing shipments, internal deliveries, or storing supplies.
Recycle what cannot be reused. All New York City businesses are required to recycle. Go to recycling in the private sector to learn more. Find recyclers and vendors who accept non-mandated materials, including pallets and plastics.
Check out local materials exchanges for opportunities to sell or donate large quantities of unwanted but reusable items.
ALSO SEE distribution packaging for strategies to reduce the amount of wooden pallets, crates, drums, corrugated cardboard, and paperboard left behind by vendors.
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COMPUTERIZATION: EMBRACING TECHNOLOGY
Almost all industries have recognized the advantages of computerization and going electronic for certain facets of their business. The retail industry is no exception. Investing time and money to purchase new technology or software and appropriately train staff may be costly, but the payback accrued may be well worth the investment.
A sampling of the operational areas to consider for incorporating or upgrading existing technology include:
Purchasing. Talk to your vendors about moving to a paperless online ordering system.
Inventory and trends tracking. Point of sale (POS) hardware and software systems include items like bar-code printers, scanner technology, scales, cash drawers, customer data collection, and back-end reporting systems. A POS system can track who your customers are and what they are buying, work to reduce theft and shrinkage, make sure inventory pricing is accurate, and help you forecast inventory needs and trends more accurately.
Personnel and Management. If you run multiple stores, consider setting up an Internet-based communications network that links stores, employees, and headquarters. Such a network can provide online operations manuals, information on suppliers, and a means of transmitting daily communications and reports.
ALSO SEE resources for information on organizations that can help you determine how technology or IT strategies can enhance your business’ performance.
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PRODUCT STEWARDSHIP
Product stewardship or extended producer responsibility (EPR) encourages those involved in the life cycle of a product — including manufacturers, retailers, consumers, and government — to take responsibility for the various impacts that result from the production, use, and disposal of that product.
Many larger retailers embrace the notion of product stewardship through sponsorship of various product and packaging take-back programs. Such programs entice old and potentially new customers to your location, and promote your company as being environmentally conscious.
Following are examples of retailers that have established their own take-back programs on their own or in partnership with product manufacturers:
- Wakefern Food Corporation’s Shop Rite supermarkets encourage customers to bring back and reuse their shopping bags in exchange for a small credit towards their purchase. See case studies for more information.
- M•A•C Cosmetics’ Back 2 M•A•C recycling program encourages customers to return six empty plastic makeup containers in return for a free lipstick. The returned containers are recycled and remanufactured into objects such as plastic pallets, snow scrapers, pencils, and paper clip holders.
- Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe program turns old footwear into athletic surfaces and Nike products. Drop-off boxes are located in Nike retail outlets, and any brand of athletic footwear is accepted.
- Office supply and electronics dealers, such as Best Buy, sponsor computer/electronics take-back events. The electronics items are then recycled, refurbished, and/or donated to nonprofit organizations. In some instances, stores have offered small credits toward the purchase of a new computer to anyone bringing in an old computer on the event day.
- Stores like Radio Shack, Home Depot, Target, Sprint Nextel, and Best Buy that sell rechargeable batteries (or products containing rechargeable batteries) must accept them for recycling. To comply they can use the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation’s Call to Recycle program.
ALSO SEE product stewardship to learn more about take-back programs and how to incorporate product stewardship into your business.
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