Two Texan textile recyclers have teamed to lead the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex’s industrial rags and cleaning cloths space, following a new acquisition.
RTCM Holdings (dba Reclaimed Cleaning Textiles, dba World Wear Project) has purchased recycling and repurposing plant United-Southern Waste Material (USW). The transaction—closed for an undisclosed sum—establishes the Dallas-based “family” of textile recycling and distribution companies as the largest textile recycler in North Texas, RTCM reported.
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“We set this vision at the very beginning that we wanted to divert 100 million pounds of textiles from landfills on an annual basis and this was an opportunity to extend and improve on that path,” Craig McAndrews, president and CEO of Reclaimed Cleaning Textiles, told Sourcing Journal of the new division. “It’s a long-term vision of growth, it isn’t ‘Hey, let’s hurry up and do this and move on to the next thing,’ as we believe that it’s a long-term play for us around the impact that we think that it can make in diverting textiles, which matters. It matters big time.”
RTCM has been in the reclaimed textile space for three decades through three distinct enterprises: industrial wiping rags supplier Reclaimed Cleaning Textiles, for-profit redistributor Charity Shoes & Clothing, and for-profit collector World Wear Project.
Now, USW—a grader and exporter of used textiles (specifically clothing and wiping rags) since 1914—joins the fold.
The family-owned-and-operated supplier reportedly expanded in recent years to “collect its own credential,” amassing more than 120 bins and an 88,000-square-foot facility. The plant’s website states USW has 150 employees; USW did not respond to Sourcing Journal’s request to confirm.
“Reclaimed Cleaning Textiles has long been a leader in the recycled textiles space, with a focus on sustainable profitability,” USW owner Mindi Levine Kahn said in a statement. The third-generation co-owner will remain with the business to “provide her expertise and ensure continuity” during the integration. “This next chapter will offer customers, suppliers and employees enhanced resources in an evolving market.”
Kahn did not respond to Sourcing Journal’s request for comment.
“USW’s operation will help us expand our capacity and drive essential long-term growth,” McAndrews said in a statement. “Mindi and her family have been pioneers in the secondhand clothing industry, and we are excited to come together to create a best-in-class regional operation.”