Sustainability and Giving Back

Australia’s fastest growing waste stream, e-waste, poses a significant threat to our planet. In 2019 alone, it is estimated that 975,000 tonnes of e-waste entered the Australian market, yet only about 54% of it is currently collected, with 80% of that going to recycling. With over 45 million household appliances in homes across Australia, their collection and proper disposal at the end of their life remains a critical enabler of recycling and resource recovery.

At Appliances Online, we see this as an opportunity to use our large scale and Legendary Service offering to collect and responsibly recycle more whitegoods than any other retailer in the country. At no cost to the customer, we collect old appliances, mattresses, and product packaging to divert valuable materials from landfill and keep them in the circular economy. This program enables us to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere as we prevent the emissions associated with discarding these items. In 2025 alone, we diverted over 10,000 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere which is more than our Scope 1 and 2 emissions combined.

Product stewardship can be thought of as businesses taking responsibility for products they place on the market, beyond the point of sale and after warranties have expired. As mentioned above, we take responsibility by ensuring that when we can, we recycle our customers' old appliances, mattresses and new item packaging at no extra cost. This prevents harmful substances from leaking into the environment, keeping communities and ecosystems clean.

In particular, we take great pride in our refrigerant degassing program. When we take back a customer's old RAC equipment (refrigeration, freezers and air conditioners) we ensure that they are properly degassed by an ARCtick licensed technician who then ensures that the gas is destroyed via plasma-arc technology. This is because refrigerant gases contain powerful greenhouse gases that damage the Ozone layer and contribute to climate change. After conducting an analysis on the impact of refrigerant gases, we found that for every RAC unit we degas, we prevent 235 KGs of CO2 equivalent from entering the atmosphere. Read more about our degassing program.

Since 2020, we have partnered with mattress recyclers Soft Landing and Bounce Back to turn old mattresses into roof sheeting, carpet underlay, and more. We are members of the Australian Bedding Stewardship Council and participants in the ‘Recycle My Mattress’ program. Over the last year, we have recycled over 2,000 mattresses, which has helped to create 80 jobs for people experiencing hurdles to unemployment.

We have also joined forces with Australia’s government backed scheme, B-Cycle, which is run by the Battery Stewardship Council. As an accredited B-Cycle retailer, we give purchasing priority to products that contain compliant batteries and have integrated the cost of safe battery recycling into our B-Cycle accredited products. This is an essential service as 90% of Australia’s used batteries end up in landfill, where they can cause harmful fires, corrode and leak toxic materials into the environment, harming human health and local wildlife.

Whether it’s shopping with us, working in our operations or being a supplier to our business, we want our stakeholders to know that we are actively working to manage and mitigate any negative social and environmental impacts of our supply chain. 

Taking a risk-based approach, Appliances Online is engaging with our suppliers to understand what practices and processes they have in place to manage and mitigate the risks of modern slavery within their organisations and supply chains. A key part of our approach to responsible sourcing at Appliances Online is to educate suppliers and provide practical advice to further understand the risks of modern slavery in their supply chain, whilst improving transparency and due diligence measures. 

We are fully committed and hope this to be a path of collaboration and shared responsibility, to work towards traceability and transparency in the supply chain. To find out more about our responsible sourcing approach, review our FY25 Modern Slavery Statement and our Supplier Code of Conduct. 

At Appliances Online, we are committed to creating an equal, inclusive and diverse work environment. We are an equal opportunity workplace and have optimised our job adverts to attract a diverse range of candidates.

Our Experience & Talent Acquisition Team delivers regular training, such as unconscious bias training, to hiring managers, ensuring they are equipped to apply an inclusive mindset to candidates and team members. We have also partnered with disability employment services for roles across the business and run return to work programs with a specific focus on supporting women to return to the workforce.

Appliances Online, under the Winning Group, has released its first Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). The purpose of this RAP is to create opportunities to work with and strengthen our relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across our organisation, customers, partnerships and beyond.

Our new Innovate RAP marks the next step in our reconciliation journey and reflects our company’s commitment to social responsibility and fostering a culture that celebrates diversity and inclusion. It aligns closely with our company mission, to create the best experiences in the world, for the world - including for our communities, and also our core values, including Be Proud of Your Differences, Be Respectful and Embrace Change.

We have been supporting Dignity since 2016 and this year, Appliances Online under the Winning Group has committed to a gold partnership with Dignity (valued at $50,000) to support their mission to prevent and end homelessness. We provide appliances to Dignity’s temporary accommodation homes, from washing machines and dryers to fridges and freezers and TV’s. The partnership supports Dignity to replace or upgrade any appliances across their multiple properties and to expand when opening new Dignity homes. Our teams are also encouraged to volunteer and have helped to set up a Dignity home. Please see here the latest Impact Report outlining our work with Dignity.