FAQ + Contact form
For World-Changing Individuals:
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Send your CLEAN socks to us through Smartwool’s Second Cut Project.
Order your Smartwool Second Cut Project Prepaid Mailer!
Note: Purchase of a Smartwool™ product is required to get your free mailer and free postage.
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Almost! Any brand, any style, and any material. The only exceptions are compression socks and tights/ pantyhose.
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At the moment, we do not accept apparel from individuals aside from the Second Cut Project for sock recycling. (We are working hard with new technologies and methods for recycling used garments of all types, so stay tuned for new announcements!)
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Email us at solutions@thematerialreturn.com
Our customer service team will be respond as soon as possible!
For Brands and Manufacturers:
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This depends on material type and regularity of this material (ongoing waste recycling contract). If it’s something that’s in our system already, then we can combine it with our other waste streams and downcycle/upcycle through our partners and network. (See our waste stream acceptance guide)
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Please see our waste stream acceptance guide.
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1) You can ship them to us in a properly labeled package or pallet.
2) You can contract with us to pick up the waste within a 150-200 mile radius of Morganton, North Carolina with a fee for the service.
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Material Return drivers will schedule a route with your team lead in order to coordinate efficient route structures. (On each route, we strive to pick up our maximum weight of 9000 lbs by collecting from multiple locations/clients.)
We provide labeled, palletized gaylord bins for storing and sorting the waste being collected.
We provide training to your staff on how to sort and keep the waste clean. (No bottles in the textile bin, please!)
Upon a pick up, our team will collect your full waste bins and replace them with empty ones.
All materials will be weighed on our scales before entering our truck.
The weights will be recorded on a billing sheet which the client’s employee will sign and verify.
Our finance team will then issue a monthly invoice for the collection and recycling of your waste.
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Yes, the material needs to be sorted. However, this is highly dependent on the materials being collected.
Currently, color does not need to be sorted for our process.
If you sort the materials by type before collection, then the billing will be our standard rate for recycling. If you do not sort before we collect the waste, then Material Return will perform a sorting time trial in order to determine the sorting fee.
Please talk with your Material Return contact about sorting for further details.
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Yes! Labels, fabric tags, and packaging will need to be removed before our recycling process. This can be done at Material Return for a fee, or you can do this yourself before shipping to Material Return.
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In most cases, yes, the hardware, filler, or zippers will need to be removed before our recycling process.
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Absolutely! This is our goal!
If your waste is compatible with our system, we can develop a yarn, fabric, or textile product with our amazing network of manufacturers.
Custom circular products from your waste stream will require a research and development contract with Material Return and development budget.
We highly encourage our clients to think about reducing their environmental impact through custom circularity. We will work with you to find a solution for your waste stream that can fit back into your production line!
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Yes, we can aggregate the waste to either downcycle or upcycle into our ecosystem. A standard service agreement contract needs to be in place in order to recycle your textile waste.
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Check out our ReturnTex™ yarn catalog! Fabric coming soon!
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We are an employee owned and operated enterprise being incubated by The Industrial Commons.
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The Industrial Commons is a non-profit that founds and grows interconnected enterprises that solve industrial problems for businesses and workers and manufactures hope for the people of Western North Carolina. You can learn more about the Industrial Commons here.
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We are located in the foothills of Western North Carolina in the small town of Morganton.
Our location has many unique features but the most important for our mission is being near the heart of textile manufacturing in the Carolinas.
Our facility is located on 647 Hopewell Rd., Morganton, NC 28655
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We operate Monday - Thursday from 8AM -2:00 PM EST.
We are closed for most national holidays.