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 purchasing—one that might 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:
- Lengthen the life cycle of merchandise
- Scale back landfill waste
- Encourage environmentally accountable commerce
- Help small sellers and entrepreneurs on digital platforms
- Promote entry to standard resale apps
Tax Aid and Round Enterprise Incentives
Kamlager-Dove is especially targeted on decreasing gross sales tax for secondhand gadgets and providing tax credit to corporations 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 pink tape for small companies and resellers, handle counterfeiting, and cut back waste. “It’s sustainable, it helps the setting, there’s much less trash and also you make any person else joyful,” 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 keen to pay for brand new versus secondhand gadgets.
A current report discovered that 54% of retail executives see resale as a extra secure 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 gives important entry—not solely to revenue, however to high quality items at decrease prices”.
Sustainability Via Secondhand
U.S. landfills are stuffed with discarded clothes, which, because it breaks down, releases greenhouse gases and poisonous “ceaselessly chemical substances.” The carbon footprint of manufacturing new clothes—from sourcing supplies to manufacturing and world transport—is even increased.
Specialists estimate that if each secondhand merchandise bought changed the necessity for a brand new one, it might cut back total 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 cut back water, carbon, and waste footprints by as a lot as 73% in comparison with producing new clothes.
“Presently we now have 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 corporations to supply pure fibers and shift their provide chains—a course of that takes time and sources.
The Booming Enterprise of Secondhand
Secondhand purchasing isn’t simply environmentally good—it’s additionally grow to be a cultural phenomenon, particularly amongst Gen Z and Millennials. Youthful customers are searching for out resale apps and thrift shops seeking distinctive, inexpensive, and sustainable finds. In keeping with a current survey, 71% of customers aged 25-34 purchased “pre-loved items” previously yr.
The resale sector is booming:
- Projected to succeed in $1.04 trillion globally by 2035, up from $186 billion final yr
- Rising 12–15% yearly, outpacing conventional retail
- Luxurious resale can also be surging, with 27% of on-line luxurious attire spending now occurring 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, cut back environmental influence, 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 business 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, cut back landfill waste, and advance sustainability objectives which are more and more valued by customers, companies, and policymakers alike.
Wish to perceive the present B2B recommerce panorama? Obtain B-Inventory’s report, The State of the B2B Recommerce Market- 2025.
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