Tony Shumpert

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT TONY SHUMPERT

As head of the reuse and recycling divisions at Savers, my focus is expanding the company’s positive environmental and social impact beyond what most people think of as possible for a retailer. I’m fortunate to be in a unique position to pursue this mission because Savers is the largest for-profit thrift retailer in North America, with a core purpose of improving lives through the power of reuse. We are the global leader in reuse and recycling of clothing and textiles, diverting more categories of items from landfills than anyone else in our industry - more than 700 million pounds of reusable or recyclable goods last year alone. Even after 20 years at Savers, I still look forward to sharing our unique story and surprising people with the impact we have locally and around the globe.This focus of mine began with my first job, at Weyerhaeuser, where I engaged with businesses to educate them on the advantages of recycling, back when it was not as widely practiced as it is today. Ever since, I’ve held several leadership roles that provided me with opportunities to design new projects and strategies that drive business success while also having a positive impact on the community and the environment. Plus, I get to help influence the future of reuse and recycling as Savers’ ambassador and an executive member of the Circular Economy Discussion Group on the National Zero Waste Council and as a board member of the Council for Textile Recycling (CTR) and Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association (SMART). I also write for Huffington Post about recycling trends and opportunities.I truly believe in the idea of a Circular Economy, one that strives to design waste out. It represents a tremendous opportunity for reuse and recycling industries plus industry and government to come together in a powerful way to protect the Earth and preserve our environment for future generations. And I’m inspired by being able to help make it a reality.