What Apparel Impact does

Apparel Impact is a private, family-owned and veteran-owned for-profit textile recovery and reuse company headquartered in Hooksett, New Hampshire, with an additional office in Colonie, New York. Founded in 2015 (with community outreach activities dating to 2014), the company operates across six New England states through a network of 1,800+ partner-hosted drop-off bins placed at businesses, schools, municipalities, and nonprofits. Its core service is the free, full-service bin partnership model: Apparel Impact handles placement, maintenance, servicing, and annual diversion reporting, while partners host bins at no cost and benefit from the community goodwill and sustainability narrative.

The company collects unwanted clothing, shoes, and textiles, then routes them through a sortation process — reusable items are directed to community outreach programs and thrift stores, while damaged items are sold to textile recyclers for upcycling or downcycling into industrial rags, insulation, and other products. Apparel Impact distinguishes itself through an explicit community-support division (the first of its kind among New England for-profit textile recovery firms), providing clothing, food, and resources to over 14,000 people and families since 2014, including a dedicated veteran-assistance program. The company also produces the 'Team Impact!' educational comic book series, offered free to schools that host bins, as a soft-touch educational and partnership-acquisition channel.

The business model combines transaction-fee revenue from the sale of collected/sorted textiles to downstream thrift and recycling channels with managed-services revenue from municipal and partner programs. Municipal customers (e.g., City of Norwich CT, Portland Housing Authority) are paid for textile diversion capacity, waste-budget reduction, and local job creation. Bin hosting itself is free to partners, which functions as a demand-acquisition mechanism — the more bins placed, the more volume captured. Cumulative outcomes reported include 82 million+ pieces of clothing recovered from landfills and 23,400+ people/families clothed, with no disclosed institutional investors or external funding rounds backing the operation.

Name

Apparel Impact

Legal name

Apparel Impact

Website

https://apparelimpact.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Apparel Impact is a family-owned and veteran-owned New England textile recovery company that operates a network of 1,800+ partner-hosted clothing drop-off bins across six states, collecting and sorting textiles to reduce landfill waste while distributing clothing to families and veterans in need.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Textile Recycling Services

NAICS

Linen and Uniform Supply (81233), Linen Supply (812331)

SIC

Wholesale-Miscellaneous Nondurable Goods (5190)

akta.pro primary industry

Textile & Apparel Sorting/Recovery Facilities (EUAIADAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Donation, Resale & Textile Recycling Coordination (HSAFABAI), Textile & Apparel Recycling and Sorting (Non-E-waste) (BPALADAL), Repair, Refurbishment & Upcycling Services (Industrial Scale) (IMAOAMAK), Donation Pickup & Reuse Hauling (HSAKALAI)

Keywords

• Textile recycling services
• Clothing recovery bins
• Community outreach programs
• Municipal waste reduction
• Sustainability partnerships

Headquarters

HQ city

Hooksett

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Textile Recovery and Processing: The company collects unwanted clothing, shoes, and textiles through its network of drop-off bins across partner locations. Collected materials are sorted - reusable items go to community outreach and thrift stores, while damaged items are sent to textile recyclers for upcycling or downcycling into industrial rags, insulation, and other products.
2. Municipal and Partner Services: Provides towns and municipalities textile recovery programs that help reduce landfill waste and associated disposal costs, creating local jobs while generating revenue through service arrangements.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Apparel Impact collects unwanted clothing, shoes, and textiles through a network of partner-hosted drop-off bins across six states. Reusable items are routed to thrift channels and the company's community outreach programs serving families in need, while damaged textiles are sent to recycling partners for upcycling into industrial rags, insulation, and other products. The company also provides managed textile-recovery services to towns and municipalities to reduce landfill waste and disposal costs.

Product overview

Apparel Impact offers a suite of textile recovery and community support services centered around clothing drop-off bins and reuse programs. The core offerings include Clothing Recovery Bins (hosted at businesses, schools, and municipalities), Community Outreach Programs (providing clothing and resources to those in need), and Town/Municipality Textile Recovery services. The company also offers an educational comic book series called 'Team Impact!' for schools and a Clothing Request service for direct assistance. These products work together to address both environmental (textile waste reduction) and social (clothing insecurity) challenges, with bins serving as the collection mechanism that funds community programs and educational outreach.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Team Impact™: Educational comic book series designed to teach and promote textile recycling, featuring characters Major Impact, FleetFoot, Stitcher, and Dr. Toxic.

Products and services

• Clothing Recovery Bin / Drop-off Shed A clothing and textile drop-off bin and shed service allowing businesses, schools, municipalities, and nonprofits to host collection points for textile recycling. Apparel Impact handles placement, maintenance, servicing, and annual diversion reporting.
• Community Outreach Program Provides clothing, shoes, accessories, blankets, diapers, and food to over 3,000 people and families annually through monthly community outreach events in underserved New England areas. Also supports schools and veteran organizations with direct item requests.
• Town and Municipality Textile Recovery Services enabling towns and municipalities to reduce textile waste in landfills, create local jobs, and lower disposal budgets by hosting Apparel Impact collection bins at public facilities.
• Team Impact! Comic Book Series Educational comic book series featuring characters Major Impact, FleetFoot, Stitcher, and Dr. Toxic, designed to teach and promote textile recycling to children and schools. Includes lesson plans and teacher's guides available free to schools hosting bins.
• Clothing Request Service Allows individuals and families in need to request clothing, shoes, jackets, and backpacks directly. School nurses in underserved communities and veteran organizations with Apparel Impact bins can submit requests for distribution to those in need.
• Nearest Bin Finder Email-based service that provides users with nearby Apparel Impact drop-off locations based on their town/city and state submission.

Named customers3 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Easterseals NHcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEasterseals NH partnered with Apparel Impact to combat local poverty and textile waste. Easterseals provides locations to host clothing recycling bins at their facilities, supporting their mission while providing communities the opportunity to recycle clothing, shoes, and accessories. The partnership directly supports Easterseals NH and their community programs.
• Portland Housing AuthoritycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPortland Housing Authority launched a textile recycling initiative in partnership with Apparel Impact. PHA hosts bins at multiple housing sites throughout Portland, Maine, including Community Center, PHA Office, Bayside, Boyd St., Harbor Terrace, and Franklin Towers. The program aims to reduce 58 tons of textiles from Maine landfills annually.
• City of Norwich, CTcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe City of Norwich partnered with Apparel Impact to combat textile waste harming Connecticut's environment. Norwich hosts bins and drop-off sheds at multiple sites including Norwich Senior Center, Norwich Public Works, and Norwich Transfer Station. The program has a goal of reducing 276 tons of textiles from Norwich landfills annually.
• Vision International Missions (VIM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVision International Missions, founded by the Whitten family, operates the Ti Palmiste Children's Home orphanage in La Gonave, Haiti. Apparel Impact partners with VIM to support this orphanage which provides a caring environment for nearly 30 children, including meals, education, and life skills through full-time staff.
• 1,800+ Bin Host PartnerscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorApparel Impact works with over 1,800 partners across six states including towns, schools, nonprofits, small businesses, and national brands. These partners host clothing recovery bins at their locations, enabling local textile recycling and community support.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• USAgain: USAgain operates one of the largest clothing drop-off bin networks in the U.S., collecting used textiles for reuse and recycling. Directly comparable to Apparel Impact in business model, target donor, and downstream textile processing model.
• Tersus Solutions: Tersus Solutions provides textile recycling and circular economy services, processing collected textiles into reusable feedstock for brands and manufacturers. Comparable textile recycling infrastructure and brand-facing services.
• Helpsy: Helpsy provides clothing and textile recycling via home pickup and drop-off bins, partnering with municipalities and businesses to divert textiles from landfill. Comparable operating model and municipal partner focus to Apparel Impact.

Broad incumbents

• Bank & Vogue Group: Bank & Vogue is a global collector and trader of secondhand clothing and textiles operating across multiple continents. Comparable secondary textile market activities and downstream sorting infrastructure.
• Goodwill Industries International: Goodwill operates the largest U.S. donation-based retail network with extensive bin and store infrastructure for used clothing collection, reuse, and resale. Broader nonprofit mission but directly competes for donated textile supply.
• The Salvation Army: Salvation Army runs a national network of donation bins and thrift stores, collecting used clothing for resale and community programs. Overlaps with Apparel Impact on bin collection and reuse of donated textiles.
• Waste Management (WM) Textile Recycling: Waste Management has expanded into textile recycling through municipal programs and partnerships, leveraging its national hauling infrastructure. Represents the large-incumbent competitive threat to regional collectors like Apparel Impact.
• I:CO (I Collect) / SOEX Group: I:CO is a global textile collection and recycling company providing take-back and reuse infrastructure for apparel brands and retailers. Comparable end-to-end textile recovery operations across geographies.

Emerging players

• Patagonia Worn Wear: Patagonia's Worn Wear program buys back, repairs, and resells used Patagonia apparel, building circular apparel infrastructure. Overlaps with Apparel Impact on clothing reuse, though focused on a single brand's ecosystem.
• Circular Systems SPC: Circular Systems converts post-consumer textile waste into new yarns and fabrics for apparel brands. Comparable upcycling/downcycling of textiles and emerging fiber-to-fiber recycling market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/apparelimpact
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/apparel-impact
• Instagraminstagram.com/apparel_impact

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Apparel Impact