Ethics & Sustainability
As we've grown to be NZ's largest retailer, so has our ambition to be a positive force for NZ. Right now, the planet faces big challenges and we're stepping up to play an even more active part. We're committed to continuing to shift our business radically and have a vision to make sustainable living easy and affordable for everyone. We've already made good progress, but this take things a step further, putting sustainability at the heart of what we do, reducing our impact for the sake of our whanau, for Aotearoa, and for our planet.
Our values define what we stand for and how we deliver on our purpose and vision. Our core values are: Think Customer, Own It and Do Good. They guide our conversations, actions and decisions.
Solar-powered Operations
Over 80% of our stores and sites are now powered by solar through our partnership with Lodestone Energy with the remainder on track to follow in early 2026.
The Good Drop
Textiles are considered one of New Zealand’s most problematic waste streams, with around 180,000 tonnes going to landfill each year. Launched in June 2025 across five The Warehouse stores, The Good Drop pilot enables customers to drop off unwanted clothing from any brand in-store for reuse or recycling. As a thank you they receive 10% off apparel purchases when spending $30 or more.
Reusable Bags
Plastic is not fantastic. In 2018, The Warehouse Group ditched single-use plastic bags and began offering customers reusable bags for purchase. And what's good for the environment is good for the community. A portion of every Red Bag sold is donated to our national community partners, while another portion stays with the local store team, empowering them to support the unique needs of their communities. In 2025, we raised $1.4 million from our Red Bag sales to support families and causes across New Zealand.
Ethical Sourcing
We introduced our ethical sourcing programme in 2004 to protect the welfare of workers in our supply chain. Through our programme and policy, we actively monitor our supply factories to ensure workers are treated and paid fairly and are working in safe and ethical conditions that meet our strict policy standards.
We are part of joint international programmes to support worker livelihoods in the areas we operate such as the HerProject in Bangladesh and the Better Cotton Initiative - the world's largest sustainable cotton production programme.
Better Cotton Initiative
We are proud to be a member of The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) and we have committed to sourcing 50% of our cotton as Better Cotton by November 2024.
The BCI is the largest cotton sustainability programme in the world. It supports farmers in the cotton supply chain in implementing sustainable growing practices.
e-waste recycling programme
We are continuing our free e-waste recycling programme across 34 of our Noel Leeming and Warehouse Stationery stores nationwide. Noel Leeming is the exclusive retail partner of TechCollect NZ. We hope this programme will help New Zealanders shift a significant amount of e-waste out of landfills and recover precious resources to be recycled. So far TechCollect NZ have collected 168 tonnes of e-waste.
Soft Plastics Recycling
We proudly continue to host the Soft Plastics Recycling Scheme in 53 stores, providing access to 73% of New Zealanders within a 20-minute drive, and collected 104 tonnes from these stores in FY25!
Sustainable Product Ranges
As a business, we continue to embed sustainability across our ranges with 73% of apparel and home textiles using Better Cotton or recycled materials. All Market Kitchen coffee is Rainforest Alliance certified and 93% of our Warehouse Stationery brand paper products are responsibly sourced. Providing our customers the ability to choose more sustainable products is a significant focus.
Opening sustainable stores
Opened in 2023, our new The Warehouse SWAS and Noel Leeming stores in Warkworth are our most energy-efficient stores to date:
252 solar panels
Built with smart technology
Highly insulated to help reduce energy consumption
Designed with wooden framing
Collecting & conserving rainwater to use in our Garden Centre
E-waste, Ink, Toner and soft plastics recycling
