With the holidays right around the corner, it is high season for returns. But for hazmat and reverse logistics professionals, it is quickly becoming a nightmare season because many of those returns are classified as hazardous materials. These can include aerosols, cosmetics, cleaning solutions, flammable liquids, lighters, machinery parts, paints, perfumes, and the ever-present lithium battery.
Why it matters: According to recent statistics in the Wall St Journal, returns are becoming a big problem for retailers:
- Returns represented 10% of total retail sales in 2017. In 2021 that number was over 16% accounting for over $725 billion in revenue.
- It costs 66% of an item’s price to process its return.
- 25% of returns end up in a landfill.
- The amount of returns going to a landfill has doubled since 2016 from 4 billion pounds to 9.6 billion pounds.
The bottom line: Returns have been made easier with longer return windows and free shipping. But most consumers have no idea where their returns end up. In actuality, very few end up back on the store shelf. Most end up in the secondary market or a landfill.
Go deeper. Read the UPS guidelines on returning a gift that might be hazardous or contains a lithium-ion battery.