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Product cover image for MCC Centre: Sustainable Solutions for Clothing Waste Management

MCC Centre: Sustainable Solutions for Clothing Waste Management

Stefania Pizzirani, Saeed Rahman

Product #:W47810
Supplier:Ivey
Discipline:Strategy, Sustainability
Setting:Canada, 2023
Details:Case (PDF) • 12 pages • 2026-03-31

Subjects:

Leadership and managing peopleManagementStrategyEnvironmental sustainability

Industries:

Retail trade

Geography:

CanadaNorth America
Your Price:$9.71

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Despite the increasing trend of thrifting, in July 2023 the social enterprise director of the Mennonite Central Committee Centre Thrift Shop in Abbotsford, British Columbia, sought innovative solutions to reduce clothing waste and the landfilling or exporting of unsellable clothing while preserving donation flows, sustaining strong financial performance, and remaining aligned with the organization’s mission and community commitments. Her challenge lay in balancing social and environmental sustainability with operational efficiency while identifying new approaches to give unsold clothing meaningful value throughout its lifecycle.

Learning Objectives

This case is suitable for both graduate and undergraduate courses across business, sustainability, and social impact disciplines. At the graduate level, it can be used in courses on innovation and entrepreneurship, leadership, operations management, sustainability, business strategy, and organizational management to explore how businesses can redesign operations toward sustainable, circular models and implement organization-wide strategies. For undergraduates, it fits courses such as sustainable fashion, non-profit management, business and society, strategic management, innovation, fair trade and ethical consumption, and environmental studies.

After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to do the following:

  • Explain how the thrifting business model meets and does not meet triple-bottom-line sustainability measures.
  • Describe the strengths and weaknesses of a zero-waste target for donated clothing.
  • Develop a deeper understanding of the concept of sustainability.
  • Identify the main principles of the circular economy.
  • Recognize the business impact and benefits of implementing principles of sustainability and circular economy.
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Case Study: MCC Centre: Sustainable Solutions for Clothing Waste Management (English version) | Ivey Publishing