Exclusive: eBay teams up with retailers to tackle furniture waste

In partnership with Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), the new body aims to take action over the 22 million furniture items thrown away in the UK each year.

UK retailers such as Sainsbury’s, Ikea, George at Asda, Dunelm, Very and Simba, plus the BRC and the British Heart Foundation, will work with the council to promote pre-owned furniture.

The initiative follows other steps eBay has taken to tackle waste, as its pre-loved fashion arm became the headline sponsor for Love Island. Pre-loved clothes sales have soared by 1,400% on eBay in 2023.

eBay website searches for second-hand furniture have also a 140% year-on-year increase, with the most sought-after items including used kitchens, wardrobes, chests of drawers and armchairs.     

For retailers, eBay says a fully circular industry would make “significant reductions to current return models”, which cost the industry up to £60bn a year.

The council is aiming to overcome challenges facing the furniture sector, including creating easier consumer access to pre-owned furniture from reliable sources, costs of returns and complicated recycling regulations that sometimes drives more furniture to landfill. 

eBay UK general manager of home, refurbished and electronics Kumaran Adithyan said: “There is a huge opportunity for the furniture industry to take on some of the challenges to help take steps towards a fully circular future. 

“We are excited to partner with WRAP to bring together like-minded and forward-thinking brands from across the industry to form a collective that can drive and incentivise behaviour change at scale.

“There are some challenges we’ll work together to tackle - from stigma for buying second-hand to the language and framing that we use around non-new items. 

“For 28 years, eBay has been providing the platform for non-new items and driving circularity. Now is the moment for second-hand to shine. We intend not only to make it easier for consumers to find a good deal by buying non-new, but also to help to keep items out of landfill.”