Green Collect case study (page 9)

Established in 2005, Green Collect is a Melbourne-based WISE and circular economy leader, creating employment for people facing complex barriers to work while diverting office items, furniture, and household goods from landfill through reuse, repair, remanufacture, and recycling. In FY2025, it worked with 222 businesses, saved 410 tonnes from landfill, recirculated 87,000 items, and directly supported 59 people from priority cohorts through paid work and training.

What happened

Following several years of consistent growth, covering up to 93% of operating costs through trade, Green Collect made a strategic decision to enter the container deposit scheme market through a new business unit. The opportunity aligned strongly with its environmental mission and promised significant scale. Despite extensive due diligence, the venture performed worse than the worst-case scenario modelled. Because the new business unit did not have its own legal entity, its failure was not contained, it cascaded directly into the core organisation.

Green Collect's response included exiting the container deposit scheme venture, reducing workforce capacity by 50% (while prioritising reduced hours over redundancies for cohort staff), simplifying operations, and clarifying roles. Small patient loans from long-term supporters bridged the immediate cash flow gap. Emergency funding from the broader philanthropic sector did not materialise despite a strong track record and a clear recovery plan.

Sally also participated in a leadership resilience program during this period, funded philanthropically, which she describes as essential to her ability to lead through the crisis.

Green Collect emerged with a stronger internal culture, a refined hybrid employment model offering six-to-twelve-month structured contracts alongside longer-term roles, and a clearer understanding of its limits. The organisation now aims to create approximately 20 new job opportunities each year, with lived-experience staff making up around 60% of its permanent workforce.

'You have to know what kind of organisation you are, and build from there.'

Key learnings

Consider entity structure carefully before launching new ventures. Losses from an unincorporated venture can cascade into the core organisation. For funders: WISEs need support to design growth pathways and access appropriate legal advice to protect their core mission.

Model growth projections conservatively and build buffers. External data can overstate demand and underplay local volatility. For funders: support conservative assumptions, working capital buffers, and staged growth plans with clear decision points.

Sustainability is not a fixed percentage of trading revenue. Green Collect has covered between 68% and over 90% of its costs through trade at different points, reflecting market conditions, restructuring decisions, and deliberate investment. For funders: focus on financial resilience rather than static trading income ratios.

Philanthropy can support leader wellbeing. Organisational sustainability is inseparable from leadership sustainability. For funders: invest in coaching, peer support, and leadership resilience, particularly for founders navigating repeated crises.

Testing and failing is part of the work. Not every venture will succeed, even with strong planning. For funders: explicitly resource responsible experimentation and learning, not only successful outcomes.

The main learn book and associated case studies were commissioned by Westpac Foundation (and prepared by GoodWolf Partners).