Turning Plastic Waste Into New Possibilities

At Wayfair, we're working to create a more circular future by rethinking how we handle packaging materials. This is central to our vision of achieving zero wasteacross our global operations by 2030. While making significant strides across the board, we are focusing on one of the industry's most persistent environmental challenges: plastic packaging waste.

Protective plastic materials such as expanded polyethylene (EPE), expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam and plastic films help products arrive safely and undamaged but are difficult to recycle. Their lightweight, bulky nature can tangle recycling machinery, and processing them requires specialized equipment that many municipal programs cannot support. As a result, these materials are often difficult for our customers to recycle and end up in landfills.

As Wayfair expands Full Service Delivery, we're leveraging our logistics network to reclaim these materials from our customers and keep them out of landfills.

Building a Better Recycling Process

In 2025, Wayfair launched a plastic recycling program across its North American fulfillment network to capture high-volume, hard-to-recycle plastic packaging. Teams collect materials during product inspections, returns and customer deliveries, then use existing backhaul transportation to consolidate them at regional recycling hubs.

At these hubs, EPE foam and plastic film is compressed into bales, while EPS foam is melted into compact ingots. Our recycling partners then collect these condensed materials and transform them into new products, including composite decking, picture frames and mirrors, giving packaging a second life while supporting a more circular economy.

Closing the Packaging Loop

Our plastic recycling program complements broader efforts to make our packaging more sustainable. In 2025, 86% of our global packaging portfolio was recyclable, and 83% of global mailers were paper-based. Some protective packaging remains necessary, but by recovering it from customers' homes and recycling it through our network, we're helping customers dispose of materials that are difficult to recycle themselves.

"Wayfair's Full Service Delivery and inspection services work in tandem with our plastic waste recycling program," said Sascha Hower, chief global supply chain officer at Wayfair. "By reducing damaged products, making it easier for customers to dispose of packaging responsibly and using our existing logistics network to bring hard-to-recycle materials back to our facilities, we're turning a complex waste challenge into an operational opportunity. This approach protects the customer experience, recovers value from materials that might otherwise go to landfills and builds a more efficient, resilient and sustainable supply chain as we scale."

Growing Our Impact

The plastic recycling program launched at two of Wayfair's five planned recycling hubs. Since launch, those hubs have diverted approximately 100 metric tons of plastic waste from landfills. The remaining hubs will continue to come online over the next few years, expanding Wayfair's capacity to recover and recycle plastic packaging across our North American fulfillment network.

Learn more about Wayfair's zero waste initiative and sustainability work here.