Grossman Marketing Group (asi/215205) is on a mission to help companies go greener – and to support charities in the process.

It’s all part of SwagCycle, a new startup initiative from the Somerville, MA-based promotional products distributor that focuses on helping businesses manage the lifecycle of their logoed merchandise in a responsible, ethical and affordable way, according to Ben Grossman, company co-president and founder of the firms’ Green Marketing and Sustainability Practice.

Ben Grossman, Grossman Marketing

“When companies rebrand, get acquired or complete a marketing campaign, unfortunately obsolete branded merchandise may end up in landfills. That’s bad for the environment and it’s bad for a company’s corporate image,” said Ben Grossman, whose company hit sales of $35 million in 2018 while serving household name clients like the Boston Celtics, Boston Bruins and Harvard University. “By leveraging our proprietary network of recycling firms and charitable partners, we can turn potentially harmful decisions into helpful alternatives.”

To enable organizations to address the sustainability challenges presented by obsolete merch, SwagCycle offers a three-step process: Assess the inventory of unwanted items; confirm brand guidelines to determine if excess items can live on with charitable partners or should be recycled; and match items with an appropriate charity or one of Grossman’s recycling partners.

Grossman Marketing has vetted both the charitable partners and the recycling pros. “While recycling is a good option, donating to a worthy cause is the best choice,” said Ben Grossman. He noted that Second Chances (www.secondchances.org), a SwagCycle partner, accepts donations of clothing, shoes and accessories to assist homeless and lower-income people to better their lives and to help minimize the amount of discarded apparel sent to landfills. Other Grossman charitable partners include United Way, Jewish Big Brothers & Sisters, Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, and Dress for Success.

“Often companies are happy to donate obsolete promotional products, but have a tough time coordinating this process or don’t know the right organizations to reach out to,” said Ben Grossman. “By vetting various charities, we ensure the right items go to the right charities to benefit the right people at the right time.”

Grossman Marketing says SwagCycle is an outgrowth of company ethos that center on operating ethically – a mission that extends to helping other organizations do the same. “Socially responsible companies need disposal options that both consider the environmental and social impacts of the products they no longer need and enable them to reap the benefits of positive brand perception,” Ben Grossman said.

As Grossman indicates, there appears to be a genuine need for the service SwagCycle is offering. Consider: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported that in 2015 just 15% of textile waste was recycled; 65% was stuffed into landfills. Meanwhile, the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association (SMART) said that clothing and other textiles account for 6.3% of the waste stream in the U.S. -- some 81 pounds per person per year.

But with consumers and companies increasingly caring about sustainability – a reality backed by a global Nielsen survey that found 81% of respondents think companies should help the environment – businesses and other organizations have a unique opportunity to help reduce the waste and win goodwill for their brands. “The days of tossing unwanted goods into a dumpster are numbered,” said Ben Grossman.

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