SIDNEY, NE — Business is back in the northwest building of the former Cabela’s Distribution Center.
“With the amazing space we have here and the ability to expand, it’s ideal and it’s key for what we’re doing,” Recircled CEO Scott Kuhlman said.
Recircled is a company focused on bringing the clothing industry into the circular economy, which reuses materials instead of having the end up in landfills. The sustainability-focused group takes in used clothing and shoes from brands and retailers. Then they either repair and clean the garments to be sold again or break them down so the raw materials can be used again.
“It’s a very exciting business, it’s a new business, it’s a new industry quite frankly,” Kuhlman said. “We’re learning every single day, we’re innovating, we’re working with incredible companies all over the globe.”
The goal is to make one of the most wasteful industries out there more green.
“The textile and footwear industry was called out as the second largest polluters on the planet,” Kuhlman said. “Many brands and fashion retailers have taken that to heart and we’ve realized we can’t be sending this to landfill any longer.”
Kuhlman says his company has a zero landfill policy. Everything that passes through the facility will be recycled or up-cycled. With the company wanting to expand its efforts, Kuhlman says Sidney was a perfect location.
“Sidney is not only in the center of the country which is fantastic, so from a transportation perspective, all of this will be coming and being centralized,” he said. “Second thing is the workforce. There’s a great workforce not only in Sidney but the surrounding area.”
Now with equipment moved in, Recircled is looking to make Sidney the focal point of its operation.
“We have to do something about [the waste] and we hope this to be the center of the activities around textile and footwear recycling,” Kuhlman said.
To achieve its goals, Recircled is looking to tap into the workforce Kuhlman praised. The company will be at the job fair on Thursday at Western Nebraska Community College’s Sidney campus from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. You can also find information on available jobs on Recircled’s Facebook page.
