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FY2025 TRANSPARENCY REPORT

Introduction

Impact Results

Our Facilities

Technology & Innovation

Our Reflections

Impact Approach

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INTRODUCTION

The need for traceability & transparency in the reverse supply chain has never been greater

Read Letter From The CEO

Amelia Eleiter CEO & Co-Founder

State of the industry

Over the past 18 years, we have watched the textile circularity landscale evolve from fragmented experimentation to coordinated momentum.

Global fiber production reached approximately 132 million tonnes in 2024. Yet, less than 1% of that volume came from pre- and post-consumer recycled textiles.

Textile Exchange, Materials Market Report 2025

Public announcements and partnerships suggest a trajectory of up to 500,000 metric tons per year of advanced recycling capacity once facilities are commissioned. While technology development is meaningful, scaling advanced recycling will depend heavily on reliable feedstock characterization, consistent sorting performance, and aligned offtake markets. 

Sorting and material clarity are foundational to circularity, and its performance determines what is possible downstream. As fiber blends continue to proliferate and product construction becomes more complex: trims, dyes, treatments, and hidden elastane complicate recovery pathways. In this environment, characterization and consistency determine viability.

Policy momentum is reshaping expectations across North America. Extended Producer Responsibility frameworks are advancing in both the United States and Canada, and Producer Responsibility Organizations are being formalized. Greater transparency is no longer optional. It is becoming foundational to compliance and credibility.

Global Fashion Agenda, Americas Policy Matrix 2025

Circularity will not scale through isolated innovation. Shared infrastructure, interoperable systems, coordinated feedstock pools, and neutral ecosystem enablers are necessary to reduce duplication, align incentives, and mitigate risk. Pre-competitive collaboration is no longer theoretical. It is increasingly recognized as a practical requirement.

Basecamp Summit Insights Report, 2025

OUR IMPACT RESULTS

Our textile waste diversion numbers

October 1, 2024 – September 30, 2025

Percentages reflect % of Debrand’s total landfill diversion of textiles, packaging, and warehouse by-product 

347,440 lbs (13.66%) of total diversion

RESALE

247,875 lbs (9.47%)

 

DONATION

74,296 lbs (2.92%)

 

REMANUFACTURING

25,269 lbs (0.99%)

1,769,395 lbs (69.54%) of total diversion

ADVANCED RECYCLING

27,107 lbs (1.06%)

 

DOWN FEATHER RECYCLING

34,916 lbs (1.37%)

 

FIBER RECLAMATION

1,428,089 lbs (56.13%)

 

YOGA MAT RECYCLING

26,059 lbs (1.02%)

 

METAL RECYCLING

14,835 lbs (0.58%)

 

POLYPROPYLENE BAG RECYCLING

104,679 lbs (4.11%)

 

PACKAGING & WAREHOUSE BY-PRODUCT RECYCLING

133,710 lbs (5.26%)

415,324 lbs (16.32%) of total diversion

WASTE-TO-ENERGY

234,878 lbs (9.23%)

 

ALTERNATIVE FUEL

180,446 lbs (7.09%)

12,188 lbs (0.45%) of total diversion

RETURNED TO CUSTOMER

11,391 lbs (0.45%)

 

IN FACILITY – TO BE PROCESSED

797 lbs (0.00%)

Dive deeper into the data and decisions behind these results

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OUR FACILITIES

Growing our facility operations

Between 2019 and 2025, our operational footprint has transformed significantly, growing an approximate 894% in capacity.

Today, we operate two owned facilities—Basecamp in Surrey, British Columbia and Camp 1 in Delaware, Ohio—as well as use of two WM-owned facilities. This growth allows us to meet rising demand while reducing transportation impacts, increasing sorting and processing facility, and positioning our team to support future regionalization as we continue to scale.

EMISSIONS CONTEXT: Facility emissions are shaped by regional energy infrastructure and climate conditions as much as by operational activity. Natural gas use follows seasonal heating patterns, while electricity emissions vary significantly based on local grid carbon intensity—meaning two facilities with similar operations can report meaningfully different numbers based purely on where they’re located. This context matters for accurate interpretation of facility-level data and fair comparison across sites.

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TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

Advancing sortation technology to unlock textile circularity

Innovation is embedded within our core strategy. Through ongoing R&D, pilot initiatives, and close collaboration with brand partners, our Engineering team is developing AI-powered image recognition and machine learning systems to identify key product attributes like material composition, colour, condition, and product type that unlocks traceability with item-level accuracy, maximizing the value of every product we process.

 

These capabilities are helping build the technological foundation for a scalable textile circular economy in North America. Higher-value channels such as resale and advanced textile-to-textile recycling require detailed inspection to verify material integrity, provide clean feedstock, and meet recycler specifications at a level of analysis that has historically relied on manual processes, creating barriers to scale. Our technology initiatives are designed to augment human expertise, improving precision while increasing throughput and economic viability.

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OUR REFLECTIONS

What we've learned and what's coming next

Shared, precise language around definitions is foundational. Without it, the industry loses the coherence it needs to scale responsibly.

Circularity only works when it's operationalized. Ambition sets direction, but execution determines impact.

Partnership quality matters more than quantity, and the right partners are defined by more than capability alone.

Consumers deserve honest answers about what happens to their products. Closing the knowledge gap is non-negotiable.

The signals ahead are encouraging—and the bar for doing this work with integrity is rising alongside them.

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OUR IMPACT APPROACH

Our values

Integrity

We’re guided by our ethical backbone

Our north star is doing what’s right. Every decision we make—from partnerships to processes—is shaped by accountability, clarity, and a commitment to ethical outcomes.

Impact

We’re focused on outcomes that truly move the needle

Our team prioritizes meaningful, measurable progress over optics. The work we do is designed to deliver real environmental and operationally scalable impact that makes a difference for the long-term.

Transparency

We bring clarity to a complex industry

We communicate openly and honestly, sharing data, context, and limitations so our partners can make informed decisions with clear, credible, and reliable insight.

Efficiency

We’re discerning in how we make progress meaningful

Efficiency means focusing our energy where it will have the greatest impact. This means intentionally balancing ambition with feasibility, and responsibility with market realities.

Boldness

We challenge the industry with clarity and courage

We’re not in the business of performative statements. Our work is rooted in informed advocacy, integrity, and real-world outcomes. We’re willing to name what isn’t working, and push for what will.

Community

We build progress together

Nothing impactful can be built in a silo. We collaborate across teams, partners, and the broader ecosystem—centering empathy, trust, and shared success in everything we do.

Our ecosystem of solutions keeps products at their highest next-life value

Every decision we make about next-life logistics is guided by the Waste Hierarchy—a globally recognized framework that prioritizes pathways based on their environmental value, with Reuse at the top and Landfill as the last resort. This serves as the operating logic behind how we evaluate and allocate every pound of material we process.

Learn how this impacts our decision-making and the definitions anchoring our work in the full report.

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Download our Transparency Report

FY2025 TRANSPARENCY REPORT

Letter From The CEO

AMELIA ELEITER, CEO & CO-FOUNDER

In 2008, Wes and I sat on a beach in Southern Sri Lanka and watched branded waste move through the tide. At the time, it seemed like a simple observation. We did not yet know it would become the catalyst for Debrand and for the work that would shape our next two decades.

 

As we sat there, one realization became clear. These materials were not inherently worthless. They were resources with untapped potential, provided we were willing to design systems that recognized their value.

 

That belief continues to anchor our work today as we build toward a resource-wise economy that not only unlocks the full potential of products at end of use but ensures value is captured responsibly and shared equitably.

Over the years, I have seen both meaningful progress and persistent gaps. I have learned that meaningful transformation demands depth, not just ambition. It requires infrastructure, accountability, collaboration, and a willingness to examine what is actually happening, not just what we hope will happen.

As I reflect on our journey over the past 18 years, I am most proud of our relentless commitment to driving this industry forward with integrity and courage. I believe real change demands that we ask hard questions of ourselves and of the systems we operate within. It requires candor about our progress and clarity about our limitations. For too long, the realities of waste have remained out of sight, obscured by complexity, while the environmental and social costs have continued to accumulate.


It’s clear that the current system is not yet sufficient to deliver the vision we are working toward—a future with a more equitable and less wasteful society.   


At the same time, I am encouraged by the momentum building around us. In the past five years, I have seen more change than at any time in Debrand’s history. Regulatory frameworks are evolving to demand greater accountability. Technologies in advanced sorting and recycling continue to improve. Our brands and partners are seeking deeper visibility into what happens beyond the first life of their products. These shifts are real, and they are laying the groundwork for stronger systems.


Circularity cannot advance on ambition alone. It requires operational rigor, credible data, and the discipline to build systems that function in the real world. To move us towards our vision, Debrand must lead by example, offering greater transparency into our operations, our metrics, and the true challenges we face as a long time operator in this space.


This Impact Report is an important step in that journey. It is not a declaration of arrival, but rather a commitment to progress. It represents what we can share today as we continue to strengthen how we measure, review, and communicate our impact. When we bring our work into the light, we create opportunities to learn, refine, and strengthen the systems we are building together.

I am deeply proud of the team at Debrand and the rigor they bring to this work every day. Day after day, they continue to strengthen our internal systems and invest in the infrastructure, technology, and partnerships required to enable true end-to-end traceability for next life solutions. 


Collectively we at Debrand offer this report in the spirit of collaboration and welcome conversation to ensure our methodologies reflect reality and evolve alongside the industry. If we are to build a truly circular economy, it will require all of us to work with greater transparency, humility, and resolve.


I hope this report contributes meaningfully to that effort.


Upwards, together.


Amelia Eleiter