Officeworks expands its Bring It Back program, which aims to repurpose school stationery for redistribution to students in need.
As part of the updated program, customers can now drop off gently used school supplies such as working pens, unused notebooks, and other usable items at any Officeworks store through the Bring It Back chutes.
Partnering with Stationery Aid, Give Write, and Green Collect, the materials will be sorted, cleaned, and repackaged by community partners, then converted into school booklists for underprivileged students, evolving from its previous pen-and-marker-only recycling program into a broader, sustainability-focused reuse effort.
Officeworks decided to expand the program after a successful trial with Stationery Aid and Give Write in Queensland and Western Australia stores. Customers actively participated by donating reusable school supplies. The trial showed that repurposing items, instead of just recycling them, can help the environment and support local communities. In Queensland, enough stationery supplies were collected to provide complete school booklists for 253 students.
“Our partnership with Officeworks helps us support the most vulnerable and disadvantaged students to start the school year and transition to new schools throughout the year. We’ve seen how powerful local action can be and are excited to be scaling Queensland-wide to make an even bigger impact on the environment and students in need,” said Alison Schutt, co-founding director at Stationery Aid.
In Western Australia, Give Write delivered an accomplished trial, collecting sufficient supplies to make over 2,300 stationery packs valued at $102,000 and distributing them to greater than 4,310 students, many in regional and remote areas such as the southwest, Pilbara, and Kimberley.
Meanwhile, in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and New South Wales, Officeworks has teamed up with Green Collect, a social enterprise and leader in the circular economy. Since the national rollout began earlier this month, Green Collect has helped support the program by saving useful items from landfill while also creating jobs and training for people facing work challenges.
The Bring It Back program expansion aligns with Officeworks’ broader People and Planet Positive strategy, which aims to repair, reuse, or recycle 17,000 tonnes of unwanted items by 2025.