In this episode, Kaitlyn Allen talks with Meagan Knowlton, Director of
Sustainability at Optoro, a returns technology company based in Washington, DC.
Meagan leads initiatives that enable retailers and brands to build circular business
models and reduce waste and emissions in the reverse supply chain. Prior to
Optoro, she managed sustainability programs in the Coca-Cola bottling system,
focusing on water, energy, and waste in manufacturing and logistics. Meagan holds
a Master of Environmental Management from Duke University and a B.S. in
Environmental Science from Tulane University. 

What is a Reverse Supply Chain, you may ask? In the context of this episode, listen
as Kaitlyn and Meagan discuss merchandise returns in the retail industry. As
consumers, we are often concerned with returns from the perspective of a
company’s policy and the number of days we have to return a purchase. Many of us
do not consider the environmental concern our returns are causing, to the tune of
760 billion dollars’ worth of returns in the US in 2021. Retailers are still learning the
most effective ways to process returns without stretching the limits of human
capital and in the hopes of disrupting the new merchandise to landfill pipeline. 

Learn measures that companies are taking to process returns with sustainability in
mind and discover how consumers can play a significant role in the solutions. The
data and information shared in this episode may cause you to take a hard look at
your purchasing and gift-giving habits to better align them with your ESG
perspectives. Resource Boosts include:

Optoro www.optoro.com
MendIt www.mendit.app
Bulq – www.bulq.com  

Subscribe to ESG Decoded, where you consume your podcasts and connect via
social media to share your feedback and topic suggestions. Enjoy this episode!