Your retail operation is somewhere
in these numbers.
We find exactly where. Then we help you fix it — before the next board meeting, the next audit, or the next quarter.
of packaging waste generated by U.S. retail this year
lost annually to inefficient reverse logistics operations
facing mandatory carbon disclosure deadlines in the next 90 days
Waste isn't a sustainability problem.
It's a margin problem with a sustainability consequence.
Most retailers know they have waste. Few know precisely where it lives, what it costs, or how it compounds across their operations. The numbers below are industry averages. Your numbers are somewhere inside them.
They're incinerated or landfilled — at the retailer's cost.
The hidden tax on every SKU you sell.
Average ratio across mid-market retail shipments.
Scope 3 emissions are the most commonly misreported category.
Without a structured audit framework. We cut this to 8.
On a $100M revenue business, that's $2.1M found, not borrowed.
The pattern we see most often: a retailer spends six figures on sustainability consulting, publishes a report, and never touches the three operational processes costing them the most. The report looks good. The waste continues.
We don't review reports.
We walk the floor.
Every engagement begins with a physical audit. Senior consultants spend time in your actual operation — because the data never tells the whole story.
Operations Walk
We spend a full day inside your warehouse, storefront, or distribution center — not reviewing reports, actually watching how product moves.
Data Pull
We extract 12 months of operational data: returns rates by SKU, packaging costs per shipment, carrier invoice audits, and energy consumption by zone.
Waste Mapping
Every waste source is categorized, quantified, and traced to its root cause — not just the symptom. You get a visual map of exactly where margin is leaving.
Benchmark Report
Your numbers placed against the top quartile in your retail category. You see exactly how far off best practice you are, and what closing that gap is worth.
Not analysts writing reports.
Operators who've been there.
Every Sustain consultant has worked inside retail operations — not just studied them. That distinction matters when you're trying to find waste that doesn't appear on any spreadsheet.
Meredith Okafor
Fifteen years walking distribution centers for mid-market retail. Meredith has audited over 80 warehouse operations and found recoverable margin in every single one. Her specialty is reverse logistics — the part of your operation most likely to be bleeding money quietly.
Daniel Reyes
Daniel builds the dashboards that turn your operational data into defensible ESG reports. His clients have passed SEC climate disclosure reviews and CSRD assessments without material restatements. He speaks the language of CFOs and sustainability officers simultaneously.
Priya Venkataraman
Priya maps the emissions footprint of supply chains that span multiple continents and dozens of tier-2 suppliers. She's worked with DTC brands scaling from their first warehouse to multi-DC operations, and knows exactly where emissions accounting breaks down at each stage.
From data to dollars recovered.
A four-phase engagement.
Most clients start with Phase 1 only. The audit is designed to stand alone — you get real value before committing to anything further. Most clients continue because the numbers make it obvious.
Discovery Audit
Physical walkthrough, data extraction, and waste mapping. You receive a complete picture of where margin is leaving your operation and how it compares to top-quartile retailers in your category.
Root Cause Analysis
We go deeper on the top 3–5 waste sources. Each one gets a root cause analysis, a fix recommendation, an implementation timeline, and a projected ROI with conservative and optimistic scenarios.
Implementation Support
Sustain consultants work alongside your operations team during the change implementation. We track progress, adjust recommendations based on real-world friction, and build the ESG data infrastructure for your next reporting cycle.
Reporting & Continuity
Your first defensible ESG report, built on real operational data. Plus a monitoring dashboard your team can run independently — so the next reporting cycle doesn't require starting over.
Numbers that moved.
Not projections. Actuals.
"They found $2.8 million in the first year. I'd been sitting on that number for three years without knowing it existed."
Download the Retail Waste Benchmark Report
Industry benchmarks for packaging waste, reverse logistics cost, and emissions intensity across 14 retail categories. Real data. No gating after download.