World Environment Day

Turn surplus into a plus for the environment and good causes, is the World Environment Day (5 June) message to companies from In Kind Direct.

Landfill is very often the fate of seconds, samples, ends-of-lines and slow moving stock and items with faulty packaging as many manufacturers and retailers opt for this environmentally unfriendly alternative to valuable brands ending up on market stall or in car boot sales.

Fighting this wicked waste and calling for companies to spring clean their warehouses is In Kind Direct. “Surplus goods given in-kind really can make a huge difference to the amount of goods dumped in landfill,” says chief executive Robin Boles. "And the benefits to the community are enormous." Since 1997 when operations started, the charity has received £44 million worth of goods from 550 companies and 3,500 charities all over the UK of every size and focus have benefited. And the environment? It’s estimated that equivalent to 44 Olympic sized swimming pools-full of goods have been diverted from landfill.

“If you’ve ever wondered what happens to the toothpaste with a missing red stripe, last season’s baby clothes, the blue loo rolls which came out a little grey or the ‘cool touch’ toaster in that rather uncool beige from a couple of years’ back, the chances are that they’ve gone via In Kind Direct to many other charities working at home and abroad,” says Robin Boles.