From living rooms to landfills, some holiday shopping returns take a 'very sad path'

An ASU supply chain expert estimates that 2021's gift returns will top $500 billion and explains where presents go if they're not wanted. Depending on the price of the product, store policies, and whether middleman companies can sell the goods, they may get resold or shipped overseas where they end up in a landfill.

An ASU supply chain expert estimates that 2021's returns will top $500 billion and explains where presents go if they're not wanted. Depending on the price of the product, store policies, and whether middleman companies can sell the goods, they may get resold or shipped overseas where they end up in a landfill.

In this story published Jan. 12, 2022, on NPR:

Your blanket has a very high probability of being in a landfill. That is what consumers don't realize — the life of a return is a very, very sad path.

– Hitendra Chaturvedi, supply chain management professor of practice