Argos corporate news
The Green Book of Argos
28 July 2006
The launch of the latest Argos Autumn/winter catalogue on Saturday 29th July sees the multi-channel retailer making giant green strides to becoming even more environmentally friendly than ever before.
New larger text boxes within the index pages of the new catalogue remind customers about recycling. They are asked to recycle their old catalogue, to only request a plastic carrier bag if they need to and call to have old furniture collected and recycled to local charities.
Laurence Singer, Argos corporate responsibility manager, said: "The launch of our new catalogue is an excellent time for us to remind customers about the opportunities that exist for recycling. The initiatives are all part of Argos long-term commitment to help reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill".
Trialled in the North West of England earlier this year Argos is now rolling out catalogue recycling to its network of 668 stores. With as many as 4 million people per week visiting Argos the recycling potential is huge, especially at catalogue launch time.
Argos has an agreement with UPM Kymmene who will recycle its old catalogues and will pulp the catalogue paper to turn most of it back into newsprint for the UK's national and regional papers. This means that potentially an old catalogue can be recycled and re-read as a newspaper the following week!
Argos will still be providing plastic carrier bags for customers that need one but are committed to reducing the overall number of bags used. From catalogue launch, stores will be asking customers to reuse them as often as possible, and when finished with, to look out for a local recycling scheme or dispose of them safely.
In the UK Argos will also be promoting the Furniture Re-use network which collects unwanted furniture free of charge. The number is published in the catalogue and customers can call to arrange for furniture items they no longer need to be collected. Furniture Re-use works with local charities who take unwanted furniture and make it available for people on low incomes.
Argos is also extending the envirofone.com online mobile phone trade-in scheme to its stores in the Republic of Ireland from July 29th for the very first time. The scheme, which Argos launched in February in the UK, encourages customers to trade-in unwanted mobiles, as they could benefit by up to €100.
The scheme not only benefits individuals but envirofone also makes a donation to charity for each phone recycled. Argos' charity partner in Ireland, The Irish Hospice Foundation, is set to benefit from the initiative.
