Today, Returnity Innovations Inc. (Returnity), which designs, manufactures and implements reusable packaging and circular logistics systems, announces Jeff Schwartz as its new Director of Operations.

With 100B global parcel deliveries a year, and over 200B by 2026, the environmental impact from packaging is undeniable. In the U.S. alone, it’s enough packaging to pave a mile-wide cardboard road from NYC to LA and back - three times over, every year. Unlike a single-use cardboard or plastic mailer, the average Returnity bag or box can be used for 20 customer shipment cycles with a 95.5% return rate. Returnity packaging is now used for one million shipments a month, an increase of roughly 100% since the start of this year. This growth also results from a $3.1mm seed round raise led by Brand Foundry Ventures. Returnity now supports a growing group of circular brands and household names like Walmart, FedEx, New Balance, Rent the Runway, and Estee Lauder. Returnity is also expanding into the grocery delivery space for customers like The Rounds, a subscription-based home delivery service.   

Jeff will lead Returnity operations, helping clients identify, pilot, and scale new circular offerings. Within this responsibility, he will manage packaging supply chain and lifecycle across sourcing, manufacturing, deployment, cleaning, and disposal. He will also develop internal and external best practices around integrating and tracking sustainable logistics systems.   

Prior to Returnity, Jeff spent five years in the circular economy as the Head of Logistics Partnerships for Feather, a furniture rental company aiming to reduce the amount of furniture in landfills. Jeff was a member of Feather’s pre-seed team and scaled the company to a 100+ person, industry-leading business with over $75 million in funding. He graduated cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis.  

“I was attracted to Returnity because of its ability to help companies reduce their global footprint by making reusable packaging operationally and financially feasible,” says Jeff. “We’re seeing states like New Jersey and California mandate new laws against single-use plastic, and companies need vendors like Returnity to help them pivot efficiently. I’m eager to help Returnity’s growing customer base support their communities and future in this way.”   

“We’re thrilled to bring Jeff to the team,” says Returnity CEO, Mike Newman. “Helping a customer switch from single-use to reuse is ultimately a systems challenge, not a packaging challenge and requires effective customer analysis, education, and implementation. Given his partnerships experience and passion for helping companies transition to more sustainable models, we know Jeff is the person for this job.”  

For more information on Returnity, please visit returnity.co. To follow, visit @ReturnityInc on Instagram and @ReturnityInnovations on Facebook and LinkedIn.