In a world dominated by quick trend giants, the place $10 sneakers and viral “hauls” fill social feeds, the resale motion is gaining traction on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers from each events are coming collectively to advertise a extra sustainable, round method to procuring—one that would reshape the American retail panorama and assist the planet within the course of.
Representatives Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D., Calif.) and Nicole Malliotakis (R., N.Y.) are formally launching the bipartisan Recommerce Caucus. Their mission: to advertise the rising recommerce financial system.
Becoming a member of Kamlager-Dove and Malliotakis are representatives Kevin Mullin (D., Calif.), Hillary Scholten (D., Mich.), and Brittany Pettersen (D., Colo.), forming a coalition that goals to:
Prolong the life cycle of merchandise
Cut back landfill waste
Encourage environmentally accountable commerce
Help small sellers and entrepreneurs on digital platforms
Promote entry to widespread resale apps
Tax Aid and Round Enterprise Incentives
Kamlager-Dove is especially centered on decreasing gross sales tax for secondhand gadgets and providing tax credit to firms that undertake round enterprise fashions. “Why not do one thing that’s good for trend, good for the financial system and good for the setting?” she asks—a sentiment that resonates with each eco-conscious customers and small enterprise house owners.
Malliotakis, in the meantime, highlights the necessity to reduce crimson tape for small companies and resellers, tackle counterfeiting, and scale back waste. “It’s sustainable, it helps the setting, there’s much less trash and also you make any person else comfortable,” she explains.
Why Now?
This legislative push comes at a time when tariffs on imported items are disrupting provide chains and driving up prices for retailers and customers alike. Because of this, American customers are pondering extra critically about the place their items come from and the way a lot they’re prepared to pay for brand spanking new versus secondhand gadgets.
A current report discovered that 54% of retail executives see resale as a extra steady supply of clothes amid tariff turmoil. Rachel Kibbe, CEO of American Round Textiles, notes, “At a time when customers are price-sensitive and searching for extra inexpensive, sustainable choices, recommerce presents crucial entry—not solely to revenue, however to high quality items at decrease prices”.
Sustainability By means of Secondhand
U.S. landfills are stuffed with discarded clothes, which, because it breaks down, releases greenhouse gases and poisonous “eternally chemical substances.” The carbon footprint of manufacturing new clothes—from sourcing supplies to manufacturing and international transport—is even greater.
Specialists estimate that if each secondhand merchandise bought changed the necessity for a brand new one, it might scale back general manufacturing by practically 8% by 2027 and reduce annual carbon emissions by 15-16% by 2040. Every reused garment can add 2.2 years to its life and scale back water, carbon, and waste footprints by as a lot as 73% in comparison with producing new clothes.
“At present we’ve got sufficient clothes on the planet to dress the following six generations of people with out making something extra,” says Rachel Mednick, a sustainable trend educator. The problem is making it simpler for firms to supply pure fibers and shift their provide chains—a course of that takes time and sources.
The Booming Enterprise of Secondhand
Secondhand procuring isn’t simply environmentally sensible—it’s additionally turn out to be a cultural phenomenon, particularly amongst Gen Z and Millennials. Youthful customers are searching for out resale apps and thrift shops in the hunt for distinctive, inexpensive, and sustainable finds. In keeping with a current survey, 71% of customers aged 25-34 purchased “pre-loved items” previously 12 months.
The resale sector is booming:
Projected to succeed in $1.04 trillion globally by 2035, up from $186 billion final 12 months
Rising 12–15% yearly, outpacing conventional retail
Luxurious resale can be surging, with 27% of on-line luxurious attire spending now taking place on resale platforms
Discovering Worth in Sustainability
For a lot of, recommerce is about extra than simply saving cash or the setting—it’s about creativity, entrepreneurship, and constructing group. As Congress turns its consideration to the recommerce financial system, the hope is that new insurance policies will empower small companies, scale back environmental impression, and provides customers extra sustainable decisions—proving that trend, the financial system, and the setting don’t should be at odds.
Because the main B2B recommerce platform, B-Inventory stands behind Congress and the trade leaders who’re advocating for this recommerce motion. We’d additionally wish to acknowledge and thank the retailers, manufacturers, and small companies who’re leveraging our platform to promote and purchase returned, extra, and trade-in stock. Each transaction on B-Inventory helps prolong product lifecycles, scale back landfill waste, and advance sustainability objectives which are more and more valued by customers, companies, and policymakers alike.
Need to perceive the present B2B recommerce panorama? Obtain B-Inventory’s report, The State of the B2B Recommerce Market- 2025.
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