Green Island Rummage Waste

Implementing waste diversion quantification systems in secondhand stores

Abstract

Secondhand shops are overlooked waste diverters in the sustainability sector, in order to measure their impact, my research seeks to understand their processes so that quantification strategies can be identified. The Green Island Rummage store is looking for data-gathering strategies so that the carbon emission reductions from their waste diversion efforts can be calculated. This is a difficult issue to tackle because of the pressures faced by secondhand shops due to limited resources. I interviewed local secondhand stores to identify barriers and strategies for waste diversion quantification and then surveyed Rummage employees to determine the applicability of potential measures. This research highlights the pressures being faced by secondhand stores and their significance in our move to a circular economy.

Supervised by: Ray O’Brien

Scholarship Project Funded by: Dunedin City Council