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ABOUT OPTOROHOM EImpactReport20191© Optoro, Inc. 2020. All rights reserved.

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Explore our efforts to improve theenvironment, our community andour workplace.
32Retail’s Challenge

11 Giving Back

5 Our Mission

15 Our Workplace

7 Our Impact

20 About Optoro© Optoro, Inc. 2020. All rights reserved.

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Retail’s$400B
Challenge
Returns are an inevitable result ofgrowing retail sales, but when managed
in unsustainable ways, can be harmful tothe environment.

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Each Year
In The U.S.
Alone...

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$400B

worth of merchandiseis returned.

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That’s equivalent to theAnd this totals roughlylargest economy.

returned items.

30th

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5.1BBy 2025, the number of returned
items could reach 8 billion.

5B lbs15M Metric Tons

That’s equivalent to morethan 3x the amount of waste
the entire city of Seattle
generates in a year.

The average return travels over
1,200 miles. That’s the same
distance as driving from New
York City to South Florida!

of waste from returns aresent to landfill.

of CO2 are emitted from thetransportation of returns.

By 2025, waste from returns could reach 7.8B lbs andcarbon emissions could reach 23M metric tons.
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OurMission
Our mission is to make retail moresustainable by eliminating all wastefrom returns.

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How We Eliminate Waste
from Returns
Our technology platform uses data science and machine learning
to route returned goods to their next best home, reducing financial,
operational, and environmental waste.

Customer returns enter
the reverse supply chain.

6

Our SmartDisposition®
technology makes it easierfor retailers and brands toprocess returns.

We use intelligence toroute each item to themost profitable andeco-friendly channel.

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OurImpact
By working with leading retailers,here’s what our technology helped
accomplish in 2019.

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On average, our clients were able
to keep 96% of their returned andexcess goods out of landfill.

Weight of Units (lbs)

8.5M lbs

2,615,916$6.9M

of inventory donatedthrough charity partners
to those in need.
2,000,000

1,373,922
1,000,000

2.6M lbs

665,730

2017

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of carbon emissions
prevented by reducing
transportation andincreasing efficiency inthe reverse supply chain.

Wasted Diverted from Landfill (lbs)
3,000,000

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of waste diverted fromlandfill by giving retailers
solutions to manage andresell inventory in the mosteffective way.
20182019© Optoro, Inc. 2020. All rights reserved.

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G IVING BACKABOUT OPTOROHOM EPowering a Circular Economy
The circular economy, an economic system aimed
at eliminating waste through the continual reuse ofresources, could unlock $4.5T of new economic output.1
And optimizing reverse logistics is a critical component
to incorporating returns into a circular strategy.

1& Useio nptycumec

R

Buying a used laptop instead of a newone saves 375 kg of CO2 emissions
and 264,965 gallons of water.2

How Does
A CircularEconomyWork?

ir /DID YOU KNOW?

n & Manufac
gisturDee

Re u s e / Re p a

Most of retail’s environmental impact comes from thesupply chain when raw materials are harvested andprocessed and made into finished consumer goods.
As a result, keeping items in circulation for as long as
possible is a critical part of reducing the negative impact.
Optoro’s technology enables circularity by providing
seamless and cost-effective ways for clients to reuse
and resell pre-owned goods.

leCsonPeter Lacy and Jakob Rutqvist, 2015, “Waste to Wealth,” Accenture Strategy.

2Cradle-to-gate impact analysis performed by Brown and Wilmanns
Environmental, LLC and SHIFT Advantage for Optoro.

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Client Spotlight

In 2019, we announced a partnership with IKEA Retail U.S,
through its parent company Ingka Group, a global leader
in designing a more sustainable retail future. Optoro’stechnology was deployed in 50 stores and Customer
Service Centers in 2019 and will deploy in 10 Distribution
Centers in 2020.
“We’re on a mission to become a circular business by2030, and we need partners like Optoro who can help
us achieve our goals,” said Javier Quiñones, President &Chief Sustainability Officer of IKEA Retail U.S.

Optoro’s solution will enable us to eliminatemuch of the waste created in the reverse
supply chain, from minimizing the carbonemissions released in return shipping tofinding the best next homes for returned items.
-Javier Quinones, President & Chief Sustainability Officer of IKEA Retail U.S.

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ABOUT OPTOROHOM EGiving
Back
Our Community Engagement Program
allows employees to volunteer time inskills-based or mentoring capacities
with a wide range of impactful
nonprofits.

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Not only did we help our retail clients donate millions of goods to charities in 2019, we also
fulfilled our company-wide pledge to spend 1% of our time giving back to the community.

SUMMER
Local DC residents brought 4,500
items to exchange and donate at ourthird annual Swap Shop event, a freeclothing swap to promote sustainableconsumption.

For nearly 40 years, Martha’s Table inWashington, DC has worked to support
strong children, families, and communities
by increasing access to quality education
programs, healthy food, and family
support.

This summer our team filled over 500
backpacks for Housing Up in Washington,
DC, which works to offer comprehensive
support services to homeless and lowincome families.

Other Organizations We Work With12

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In 2019, our employees spent

3,985 Hours Volunteering
at over 170 organizations nationwide

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ABOUT OPTOROHOM EIn 2019, we facilitated the donation of $6.9M worth of goods to charities. Donations were used tosupport disaster relief, hunger relief, educational programs, poverty alleviation, and more.
Here are a few of the partners we supported through product donations:

Good360’s mission is to transform lives
by providing hope, dignity, and a sense ofrenewed possibility to individuals, families,and communities impacted by disasters orother challenging life circumstances. Optoro
was proud to support Good360’s disaster
relief efforts in 2019.

Optoro partnered with the Last Minute Toy
Store to help with their Free Holiday Toy Store
event in Nashville, TN which provides freegifts, stocking stuffers, books, games, sporting
goods, arts & crafts and more to over 5,000
children in need each year.

14The donations you sent
our way kept our friends
well and fed, and kept ourpets happy. They kept thesmallest of our loved ones
supplied with diapers, foodand other critical items.
- Stacy Downey, Director, The Little Pantry That Could

The Little Pantry That Could provides
critical supplies to Nashville families who
are food insecure. For years, Optoro
has been a proud partner by providing
shelf stable food items, diapers, and petsupplies for Little Pantry’s local shoppers.

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OurWorkplace
In addition to helping make retailmore sustainable, we work internallyto reduce the environmental footprintof our own operations.

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Greenhouse Gas Inventory
This year, we conducted Optoro’s first greenhouse gas inventory, which includes everything fromour electricity usage and commuting, to downstream inventory shipments and packaging. In 2020,
we will work to identify opportunities for reducing our emissions.

Here are the results:
Heating

13.7%

Ecommerce &Bulk Shipping

25.0%

Electricity(Buildings & Servers)

23.1%

EmployeeCommuting

9.7%

Business Travel

Purchased Goods(Packaging)

8.9%
Waste from Operations

11.0%

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8.7%

Optoro’s total greenhousegas emissions for 2019 were3,654 metric tons CO2e.
We calculated our emissions based on threemain categories, or “scopes.”
Scope 1 Emissions: Emissions generated fromheating our warehouses. These comprised
13.7% of our total emissions.
Scope 2 Emissions: Emissions from theelectricity we purchased to power our servers,
office buildings, and warehouses. These madeup 23.1% of our total emissions.
Scope 3 Emissions: Emissions generated from
Optoro’s value chain, including packaging forour ecommerce shipments, waste from ourfacilities, all employee commuting and businesstravel, and the transportation emissions fromecommerce shipping. Scope 3 accounted for
63.3% of our emissions.
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Recycling and Compost
In 2019, we made huge strides towards our goalof a 90% company-wide recycling rate.
Educating employees on recycling, prioritizing reuse, and performing
regular waste audits were critical to our success to date.

Company-Wide Recycling Rate

100%

73%

75%

84%

57%
50%

25%0%

2017

2018

2019

Eliminating Single-Use Plastics
This year, we issued a new Sustainable Sourcing Policy to double
down on our commitment to only purchase the most sustainableoptions for internal events and operations.
The biggest change was the elimination of single-use plastics byreplacing all individually wrapped snacks with bulk items.
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We launched a composting program at ourheadquarters in Washington, DC with VeteranCompost, a local company that creates jobs forunderemployed or difficult-to-employ veterans.

Composting increased Optoro’s
recycling rate at HQ by 95% in 2019.
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Diversity and Inclusion
Optoro is committed to fostering an organization of individuals
from diverse backgrounds where all people of different identities
feel valued, safe, and included.
Optoro’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee was founded in an effort to increaseawareness of diversity and inclusion. Over the past two years, the committee hascompleted several projects, including:• Publishing inclusive meeting guidelines• Starting a series of trainings on unconscious bias
• Sponsoring a D&I-focused orientation session for new employees• Hosting Optoro’s first-ever Pride Week!
Volunteering with Supporting and Mentoring
Youth Advocates and Leaders (SMYAL)

The D&I Committee consists of four subcommittees that meet biweekly.

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PolicyRecruiting

Internal
Communications

Celebration &Awareness

Collaborate with Talent &Culture to implement bestpractices and facilitate D&I
activities that improve Optorothrough recruiting, promotion,and talent engagement.

Cultivate a diverse teamby advising Talent & Culture
and the Company on fillingroles with inclusive hiring
practices.

Foster a company communitythat is informed and engages
with current D&I initiatives led
by the committee.

Build an engaged company
through celebrating, raisingawareness of, and educating
employees about the variety ofcultures/identities at Optoro.

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Women in Tech Career Fair

Optoro’s first Noodle Noon D&I Lunch and Discussion

Optoro surveyed our employees in 2019about D&I. Of those who responded…

24%

identified as people of color*49%

identified as women

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Pride Week Bake Off

Optoro employees celebrating Pride Week in rainbow attire

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Celebrating International Women’s Day

Pride Week Bake Off

40%of executive leadershipare women or minorities*Includes people who selected one or more of the following: African American / Black; American Indian / Alaska Native;
East Asian; Hispanic / Latinx; Middle Eastern; Pacific Islander; Southeast Asian; Biracial / Multiracial

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AboutOptoro
Together, we solve large challenges
in the retail world by transforming
the way retailers and brands handle
returned and excess inventory.

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ABOUT OPTOROHOM EJoin Us In Making Retail More Sustainable21To learn more or schedule a demo

To start your career with Optoro

CONTACT U S

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BULQ to the Future

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BULQ to the Future, Optoro’s Roof Deck

Opties Awards Winners for 2018

Optoro’s Summer Outing

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Optoro employees enjoying the photo booth at The Opties

Ladies Library Happy Hour

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DC Central Kitchen Volunteering

BULQ to the Future23

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UX Design Meetup

BULQ to the Future

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Optoro is a technology company that is transforming the way retailers
and brands manage, process, disposition, and sell returned and excess
inventory. Using machine learning and data science, Optoro’s returns
optimization platform determines the best path for returned and excess
goods, reducing financial, operational, and environmental waste.
Contact us at inquiries@optoro.com
Find more information at www.optoro.com

24© Optoro, Inc. 2020. All rights reserved.