Single-use plastic pledge welcomed by surfers

Shoemaker is aiming to remove all physical paperwork by the end of this year.  Global footwear retailer Clarks has announced a tie-up with circular economy start-up OtailO that aims to slash the waste produced in the online product returns process.  An update from the 200-year-old shoe maker on Friday claims the partnership with the Israeli company would result in Clarks customers being able to return their purchases in a more sustainable way.  OtailO’s system enables online shoppers to return purchases through a web application that eliminates the need for pre-printed labels, it explained. Meanwhile, an in-built inspection mechanism uses machine learning to assess the condition of the product being returned, while it is still in the customers hands, enabling Clarks to take more efficient business decisions and returns routing, it said.

In a conversation with The Fifth Estate before Building Circularity, chief executive and co-founder of Coreo, Ashleigh Morris, delved into her passion for accelerating the transition to a circular economy, how she elevated a busy street out of its waste woes, and why food scraps should be the new way of creating energy. Starting out at the hyperlocal level, on a grungy coastal Queensland street, businesswoman and conservationist Ashleigh Morris has built a growing circular economy consultancy that’s now collaborating with Lendlease, Mirvac, Rio Tinto, universities and the Brisbane and Sydney councils.