American Textile Recycling Buys Indiana Collection Facility

Clothing recycler American Textile Recycling Service (ATRS) has acquired a clothing collection facility in Indianapolis for an undisclosed amount.

The Houston-based ATRS purchased the 21,000-sq.-ft. clothing and shoe collection facility formerly owned by Retail Management Specialists of Eastern Missouri LLC, which operates Red Racks and Team Thrift stores in Colorado, Kansas, Missouri and Utah. The donation bin operation was based in Muncie, Ind., according to a news release.

The Indianapolis facility operated 144 bins through Anderson, Marion, Muncie and Indianapolis areas, all collecting gently used, unwanted clothing donations on behalf of DAV Indiana.

“We are excited about our next phase of growth and development into the Midwest and beyond,” said Debra Stevenson Peganyee, chief marketing officer for ATRS. “Our mission is to serve more communities and neighborhoods across the nation with easy convenient textile recycling solutions for all. We look forward to helping DAV expand this clothing donation partnership into an ongoing stream of monthly revenue to increase local programs and services for veterans statewide.”

Begun in 2001, ATRS, which recycles textiles and is a leader in clothing donation programs and services, is aiming to be nationwide by 2025. It provides free textile recycling solutions in 10 states and 28 metropolitan areas nationally. It operates partnerships with municipalities, property management companies like Brixmor and Simon, schools, churches and local retailers to create high traffic destination locations for families and local residents to drop off and properly dispose of gently used, out of season, unneeded clothing, shoes, toys and household textiles. It grades, sorts and redistributes textiles locally, nationally and internationally.

It represents key local post-consumer industries such as the second-hand clothing market, wiper rags, residential and commercial insulation, upholstery stuffing, thread and more.

Americans discard the equivalent of 22 billion pounds of clothing and related items annually. Only about 15 percent of that gets recycled.

Textile programs have cropped up, such as a voluntary program launched this spring in Tennessee’s Cumberland County.

And last year uniform producer Cintas Corp. partnered with the non-profit organization Know Hope to provide unused material to be recycled into bags sold to raise charity funds for third-world nations. Cincinnati-based Cintas was to provide the unused material from its production to the Cincinnati-based Know Hope, which was to use it to line reusable burlap bags sold by the charity. Funds from the bags were to be used to purchase products and provide services to poor families in Mexico, Haiti and Guatemala.