Reverse Logistics as Value Stream: What Home Depot & Peers Revealed at CSCMP

By Felecia Stratton | October 9, 2025 

No longer just about managing returns, reverse logistics has become an important supply chain function, shifting from cost burden to strategic advantage. This evolution was on display at the CSCMP Edge 2025 conference earlier this week in Maryland, where execs from Home Depot, Liquidity Services, Inc., and DHL shared their approaches to returns, refurbishment, and recycling.

During the “Reverse Logistics of the Circular Economy,” session moderated by Tony Sciarrotta of the Reverse Logistics Association, Home Depot’s Troy Campbell, Director of Reverse Logistics, underscored how a mature reverse logistics program can scale, innovate, and recapture value in ways that reshape expectations for retail supply chains. Rather than just processing consumer returns, firms like Home Depot are building infrastructure, channels, and analytics to treat reverse flows as value streams.

Campbell’s remarks at the session bolstered the idea of reverse logistics as a value stream. With over 13 years leading Home Depot’s reverse logistics efforts, he supervises operations across four major return centers nationwide. Currently, Home Depot’s reverse network handles approximately $1.9 billion in COGS returns, while its liquidation channels generate $200 million in sales. In addition, the company recycles more than 76 million pounds of material annually; these efforts contribute roughly $3.2 million in revenue per year.

From Cost Center to Strategic Advantage

The discussion also touched on one of the more striking evolutions in reverse logistics—the rise of secondary market channels to handle returned goods. The panelists spotlighted several models now gaining traction:

• Bin stores: Resellers acquire pallet loads of liquidated or returned goods and sell them in “pop-up” or discount-style storefronts, with dynamic pricing that declines the longer items remain.
• Livestream auctions / D2C broadcasts: Platforms like TikTok Shop, WhatNot, and eBay Live allow real-time resale to consumers, while direct-to-consumer marketplaces increasingly offer better margins over traditional B2B channels.
• Warehouse pickup / outlet-style fulfillment: Some brands offer local buyers the ability to purchase returns directly from the warehouse, bypassing shipping costs and return complexity.

Joe Desormiers, Product Leader, Returns & Circularity – North America for DHL, referred to bin stores as “a great way to move bulk items and low-value returns,” and suggested local pickup options reduce logistics friction. Mary Cho, Director, Client Solutions for Liquidity Services, emphasized that D2C marketplaces deepen engagement with end users, potentially reclaiming more margin, while Campbell noted that in Home Depot’s experience, secondary markets haven’t cannibalized core retail sales—because the buyers in these channels tend to be different from in-store customers.

What This Means for Supply Chain Leaders

Home Depot’s reverse logistics blueprint is now substantive, not aspirational. It suggests that when return volumes and product complexity swell, mature operators will:

• Leverage data to shrink decision windows in disposition,
• Layer multiple resale and liquidation strategies,
• Integrate reverse and forward networks for efficiency, and
• Position circularity as both a cost mitigator and differentiator.

For supply chain leaders, the takeaway is clear: reverse logistics needs to be a core discipline, embedded early, measured rigorously, and aligned with broader business transformation. In a future where circularity is no longer optional, the firms that succeed will likely be those that treat returns not as a drain — but as raw material for competitive advantage.