Canadian-based firm Debrand—which specializes in “next-life logistics” for apparel merchandise—has opened its first directly-operated U.S. facility as it seeks to expand its impact in diverting textiles from landfills.

The 32,000-square-foot facility in Ohio opened last month and is now operational. Automated sorting technology and equipment processes goods for recycling or downcycling, focusing on getting the most value out of garments. In the last 18 months, Debrand’s three existing facilities have processed and kept 4.5 million pounds of textiles out of landfills for brand partners like Everlane and Lululemon, and this Ohio opening will add more capacity and geographic coverage to its operations.

More from Sourcing Journal

• How Accessibility and Awareness Can Catapult Circular Change

• Reformation Justifies the Economics of Sustainability

• KZ_K Studio on Fabrics and Applying the Decency Quotient to Fashion

“To have the impact that we want to have as a company, we really need to expand into the U.S.,” Amelia Eleiter, CEO and co-founder at Debrand, told Sourcing Journal. “As the demand for our services and the comprehensive services that we offer continues to grow and scale, it seemed like the right location and right timing to do that.”

The company previously had a U.S. footprint through WM, the North American sustainable waste management firm that made a strategic investment in Debrand in November 2022. The textile reverse-logistics firm uses WM’s facilities in South Carolina and Arizona.

Per Eleiter, Ohio has a number of advantages. For one, the state is a popular spot for fashion brands’ distribution centers, allowing the regional facility to easily receive goods while also reducing travel distance—lowering the transportation impact as well as logistics costs for its customers. It is also near Debrand’s chemical and mechanical recycling partners.

Along with giving Debrand a footprint in the center of the country, the Ohio location is purpose-built for textiles.

Debrand’s solutions center on preparing textile goods for the circular economy. One piece of this offering is sortation, which uses proprietary automation software alongside human intuition to decide what path is best for merchandise—whether it’s resale, recycling or uses like fuel or energy creation. “The automated sorting and the technologies that we’re going to be deploying at that facility is…that necessary step to help textile waste be more quickly, efficiently, accurately identified and then sorted,” said Eleiter. “It’s really going to enable us under one roof to make quick decisions with our clients’ products on ensuring that it does end up in the best next life.”