Retailer acquires stake in start-up enterprise to be known as Circonomy. 

 

Officeworks has acquired a significant stake in Brisbane-based social enterprise, the World’s Biggest Garage Sale (WBGS), as part of the company’s response to changing customer needs and its ongoing commitment to sustainability. 

 

Since starting as a simple garage sale in 2013, WBGS has grown to a multi-million-dollar social enterprise that drives profit for a purpose by repairing, re-purposing and re-selling imperfect and unwanted products. 

 

Annual retail repairs and returns in Australia are estimated at more than 10 per cent of total stock. 

 

Internationally, the projected value of the circular economy industry is $4.5 trillion by 2030

 

In acquiring a 21 per cent stake in WBGS, Officeworks plans to help expand the business into a national recovery and repair service under a new brand called Circonomy. 

 

This will ultimately see the existing collection and repair service grow beyond furniture and office supplies, to implement solutions for products that would otherwise be sent to landfill, across the broader retail industry. 

 

Circonomy initially expects to create 70 jobs at various 'circular economy precincts' across Australia. 

 

Sarah Hunter, managing director of Officeworks, said: “Over the last three years, we have partnered with WBGS to help us achieve our vision of contributing to a more circular economy and becoming a zero-waste business. 

 

“Together we have demonstrated a feasible model to collect, repair, re-purpose and re-sell damaged or customer returned products. We’re excited to replicate and scale this model across Australia,” she said. 

 

“We believe that, in time, this can be a solution that is much more widely adopted across the retail sector as a way to divert waste from landfill, extend product lifecycles, and ultimately build domestic repair and remanufacturing capability”. 

 

The first program of its kind in Australia, Circonomy will create a national network of circular economy precincts that will cater for both businesses and consumers. These centres will advocate for conscious consumerism through the resale of dormant or second-hand goods and will also provide Officeworks and other retailers with waste management practices for its products. 

 

The increasing movement towards extending product lifecycle is further evident through the recent findings of the Productivity Commission inquiry into the right-to-repair, which the Federal Government is currently considering. 

 

Yasmin Grigaliunas, WBGS founder and CEO, said: “Our partnership with Officeworks will allow us to broaden our service offering both geographically and in the products we can repair, and will provide a model for other businesses to follow our lead.”