Josef Werker talks about how Humble’s thrifty approach is revolutionising aged inventory management in the Philippines (Photo: Wesley Villarica)
Cover Josef Werker’s startup, Humble Sustainability, is changing mindsets about aged and excess inventory management in the Philippines (Photo: Wesley Villarica)

Humble Sustainability, co-founded by its CEO Josef Werker, is making companies see the value in their excess or unwanted inventory while keeping them out of landfills

You have electronic equipment that needs to be disposed of or replaced; Philippine startup Humble Sustainability wants it.

Its CEO, Josef Werker, co-founded the company in 2021 with the goal of lengthening the lifespan of consumer products, particularly helping businesses handle excess inventory. By repurposing these products and working with recyclers, resellers and refurbishers, Humble Sustainability has helped clear warehouses and office spaces of items that would have otherwise ended up in landfills while enabling businesses to turn unused assets and dead stocks into extra earnings.

Werker describes how his interest in the environment began in his own words.

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Since I was a young kid, I’ve had a passion for nature. [This is thanks to] my mother, who advocated for sustainability her whole life and always stood for what she believed in. With my family, our gadgets were secondhand and holidays were spent camping in the woods, so I learned to appreciate nature and the environment.

At Humble Sustainability, we want to help businesses generate revenue from their excess equipment. More importantly, we want to prevent these items from ending up in a landfill and creating a destructive impact on the planet. With our B2B network, we sell these items to others for these businesses. 

The Philippines is among the worst polluters on the planet. We need to make drastic changes. Very soon, businesses must report on their carbon footprint and we must be ready. That is why we’re building a product that will assist these businesses in creating, measuring and achieving their ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) goals.

We want to be the leading climate technology business in the country that enables people and companies to live circularly. We want to be the independent party that requires all organisations to prove the legitimacy of their carbon footprint and sustainability. We want to eradicate [corporate] greenwashing and be the ones to tell businesses, “Yes, you are sustainable because you managed to achieve certain metrics.”

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I’m extremely ambitious and driven in all aspects of my life. I was once an avid classical musician and at one point, dreamt of having my orchestra and choir that I travel the world with. Similarly, with Humble Sustainability, I want to create as much impact as possible on a global scale. 

Making drastic changes isn’t always realistic, but making small changes can be significant. Be it reducing the amount of meat in their food or learning to appreciate secondhand items. Being extreme is not always practical. What’s important is to talk about it and learn about the climate crisis that is upon us.

We have an aggressive expansion plan in 2024. It starts with more partnerships with corporate and government accounts and selling to more recyclers and refurbishers. We’re also growing the team and organising a sustainability awards night to celebrate our top clients. We’re also striking profitability and have started the process of retiring our B2C e-commerce programme, Thrift.


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