ARA announces new partnership to mark World Environment Day

Media Release published June 4th 2021 by the Australian Retailers Association

The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has marked World Environment Day by announcing a new partnership with Good360 Australia.

ARA CEO Paul Zahra said, “The theme of this year’s World Environment Day is about protecting and restoring our natural environment, so this is a perfect time to announce our new partnership with Good360.

“Good360 has a great business model that reduces the amount of waste sent to landfill, by matching donations from businesses to where they are most needed in the community. We think this makes them the right partner to support our members, so they can increase the amount they donate to charitable organisations rather than increase the environmental and financial costs of sending more waste to landfill,” Mr Zahra said.

Founder and Managing Director of Good360 Alison Covington said, “We are absolutely delighted to be working with the ARA and look forward to helping their members, as the retail sector continues to embrace the circular economy. We know that finding the right charity partners to work with and then managing those relationships can sometimes be challenging for retailers. The good news is that we already have the systems and networks in place to make it as easy as possible for retailers who want to do the right thing but don’t know where to start.”

Mr Zahra said, “We know this is an important issue for our members, both from a financial and environmental perspective.

“Across our membership, retailers are already taking steps to reduce their impact on the environment; from closed loop repair solutions for damaged furniture, to commitments towards sustainable forestry; from carbon offset schemes that are increasing canopy cover, to volunteer programs that work alongside community groups to help restore native bushland.

“We hope this partnership with Good360 is one more tool in the toolbox, to help our members reduce waste to landfill and protect our natural environment, in line with this year’s World Environment Day.”

his announcement follows last week’s industry roundtable in Canberra on textile clothing waste, convened by the Federal government and attended by key players in the textile value chain. The ARA was a leading voice in those discussions and a co-signatory to the communique that was agreed by participants, including a national summit on textile waste later in the year.

“We know that the ongoing impacts of Covid-19 remain an immediate focus for many of our members. However, we do need to keep building momentum on these types of initiatives because we feel that sustainability will be a major contributor to our post-Covid recovery,” Mr Zahra concluded.