The nonprofit has an opportunity to tell the story of how the organization adapted to tremendous external changes in the last year.
It is not a secret that the increasing waste and incineration worldwide is harmful to the planet, affecting climate change, wildlife, and public health. LLGI is reacting to this prospective hazard with intentionality. By giving items another chance to go back to the economy and extend their lifecycle for as much as possible we have been supporting the circular economy and the planet, and we have been doing this for more than 84 years. We want to do more than just sort, re-sale, and reuse. We decided to be more intentional about recycling and repurposing as well. In 2022 we added our efforts for environmental stewardship to our 2022- 2024 Strategic Plan. LLGI has a very unique ecosystem of partnerships with other organizations and our community as well, including donors, shoppers, salvage partners, etc. This has allowed us to help others while reducing waste. We adopted a new initiative called DGR Optimization through One Touch to strengthen our operations with a more streamlined process. We extract more value out of our donation and get it back to this ecosystem at a faster pace while increasing our waste diversion rate to more than 79%. We also recycle metal, cardboard, and computer electronics, and we are piloting the recycling of plastic separated from regular hardware commodities. In a recent survey, 99% of our salvage partners stated that our alliance has helped them understand, change, and support the circular economy. 60% of them stated that their diversion rate has increased to more than 81% which implies a huge reduction in waste. Their focus has changed from just selling to generate revenue to recycling, upcycling, reusing, and repurposing. LLGI has become an active member of the Goodwill International Textile and Sustainability Affinity groups, the Illinois Recycling Foundation, and the National Recycling Coalition. We strive to be a conscious recycler by making local reuse our priority, minimizing fuel expenses, and reducing the carbon footprint.