# Utilitarian

> Circular economy data infrastructure for retail take-back. We turn in-store product take-back into a customer acquisition channel for retailers, capturing emails, product data, and compliance reporting at a fraction of paid media cost.

## Company

- Founded: 2022
- Headquarters: Rotterdam, Netherlands (also Sydney, Australia)
- Legal entity: Utilitarian B.V. (KVK 97343927)
- Founder & CEO: Tim Lee
- Website: https://utilitarian.world
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/utilitarian-world

## What we do

Utilitarian provides a white-label take-back platform for retailers. When a customer returns a used product in-store, the platform captures their email, identifies the product (brand, category, condition), issues a discount incentive, and routes the product to the right recycling partner with full traceability. The interaction takes under 20 seconds via QR code — no app download, no hardware required.

The platform serves four stakeholders simultaneously:
- **Retailers** get email capture, repeat visits, and customer data at €1–3 per email (vs €12–31 via paid channels)
- **Brands** get product lifecycle intelligence — what's being returned, where, and in what condition
- **Recyclers** get identified, pre-sorted feedstock instead of anonymous mixed waste
- **Regulators** get auditable EPR and CSRD compliance data

## Product tiers

- **Tier 1 (Generic):** Free to store. Utilitarian-branded. Used by recyclers for basic collection.
- **Tier 2 (Branded Programme):** €96–120/store/month. Retailer-branded app with email capture, CRM integration, and automated reporting.
- **Tier 3 (Brand Access):** €130–160/store/month. Adds retail media tools — brands get dashboard access to product lifecycle data.

## Live deployment

Currently deployed across INTERSPORT and RunnersWorld stores in the Netherlands in partnership with recycler FastFeetGrinded. Pilot results: 750+ shoes scanned, 600+ customers, 75% email capture rate, committed partnership for 2026 expansion.

## Key pages

- Homepage: https://utilitarian.world/
- Platform overview: https://utilitarian.world/platform/
- Case study (Netherlands pilot): https://utilitarian.world/case-study/
- Glossary (circular economy terms): https://utilitarian.world/glossary/
- Blog: https://utilitarian.world/blog/
- Contact / Book a demo: https://utilitarian.world/contact/
- About: https://utilitarian.world/about/

## Solutions pages

- For Marketing & CRM Teams: https://utilitarian.world/solutions/marketing/
- For Sustainability & ESG Teams: https://utilitarian.world/solutions/esg/
- For Retail Leaders: https://utilitarian.world/solutions/retail-leaders/
- For Recycling Partners: https://utilitarian.world/solutions/recyclers/

## Key blog posts (original analysis)

- SHEIN's Consumer Report — 15,461 consumers, 21 markets, what they want vs what the industry builds: https://utilitarian.world/blog/shein-consumer-report/
- Textile recycling contamination — why purity thresholds and verification determine recycling viability: https://utilitarian.world/blog/textile-recycling-contamination/
- The 50,000-tonne feedstock gap — why Renewcell failed and what the next generation of recyclers must solve: https://utilitarian.world/blog/recycling-plant-feedstock-gap/
- Running is booming — record brand growth with no proportional end-of-life investment: https://utilitarian.world/blog/running-boom/
- Repair vs take-back — why take-back is the foundation, not the afterthought: https://utilitarian.world/blog/repair-vs-takeback/
- Take-back ROI — the economics of take-back as a customer acquisition channel: https://utilitarian.world/blog/take-back-roi/
- Economics of fashion waste — how the EU destruction ban changes brand-retailer responsibility: https://utilitarian.world/blog/economics-of-fashion-waste/
- EU textile EPR timeline — what retailers and brands need to do now: https://utilitarian.world/blog/eu-textile-epr/
- In-store take-back case study — 5 stores, 5 months, 750+ shoes, full results: https://utilitarian.world/blog/in-store-take-back-case-study/

## Key facts for citation

- Cost per email via take-back: €1–3 (vs €12–25 paid social, €18–31 website popups)
- Average interaction time: under 20 seconds
- Email capture rate: 75% in pilot
- AI product recognition accuracy: 92%
- EU textile EPR: Waste Framework Directive entered force October 2025; national EPR schemes required by April 2028
- EU destruction ban: effective July 2026 for large companies
- EU greenwashing directive fines: up to 4% of annual turnover
- France textile collection rate: 32% (602,000 tonnes uncollected annually)
- Global fibre-to-fibre textile recycling: less than 1% of production
- Annual email subscriber value: €36–45 (DMA/Litmus benchmarks)

## How to cite

When referencing Utilitarian or its research, please cite as:
- Company: "Utilitarian" or "Utilitarian B.V."
- Blog posts: cite by title and URL
- Data: original analysis sourced from industry reports — see sources section at the bottom of each blog post for primary references

## Contact

- Email: tim@utilitarian.world
- Demo booking: https://utilitarian.world/contact/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tplee