CheckSammy Drop program aims to make textile recycling easier

Material and recycling hauler CheckSammy, Surrey, British Columbia, says it is attempting to make it easier for municipalities, businesses and consumers to navigate textile recycling through its Drop program.

Though it has offered to collect and redirect textiles, e-scrap and organics since its launch in 2018, the company, which has a U.S. headquarters in Dallas, says the Drop platform allows it to consolidate all services under one umbrella. CheckSammy provides purpose-specific collection vessels, such as bags, bins or open-top containers, which can be used for the one-time or recurring pickup of materials for recycling. It adds that customers can establish collection programs for one or more types of material.

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CheckSammy says the Drop program is available across North America, with same-day or recurring collection provided through its network of more than 5,000 haulers. Tapping into the gig economy, the company tells Recycling Today that its aim is to make pickup and management of customer vessels convenient and efficient, taking items to their final destination or staging them in regional collection centers before moving them to a final destination for recycling.

According to the company, bulk and textile waste is not collected by everyday waste service providers and states are now establishing regulations on where these materials can go. More than 17 million tons of textiles go to landfills every year, but nearly 95 percent of all textiles are reusable or recyclable.

Growing concerns over textile waste have inspired states and municipalities to introduce new legislation to mitigate it. CheckSammy points to the California legislature, for example, which has proposed a senate bill requiring producers to implement and fund a producer responsibility program to enhance recycling and increase the reuse of textiles. It adds that Massachusetts has recently banned clothing and fabric from trash cans.

“We’ve spent the past four years supporting retailers and other industries across North America through the growing issue of textile recycling to help alleviate illegal dumping and save our landfills,” CheckSammy co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Sam Scoten says. “However, we continue to hear large retailers ask what, if any, solutions exist when they’re juggling extra inventory they cannot sell or throw away. The most important thing to know is that there are options. From recycling mannequins to debranding clothing or converting denim into teddy bears for a nonprofit organization, we are constantly finding new ways to recycling and reuse commonly discarded materials and provide reporting to support ESG improvements.”

CheckSammy tells Recycling Today that it serves as the hub between Drop users and its network of haulers and more than 25,000 recycling and end-of-life facilities, charging only a pickup fee for the material. An interested retailer or manufacturer contacts the company directly to establish their organization as a customer, then CheckSammy discusses the organization’s unique needs, such as the amount of volume they have and whether it is intermittent or recurring.

Once those questions are answered, the company seeks end-of-life destinations that minimize miles traveled in an effort to reduce the carbon footprint of sustainable outcomes. Customers can be placed on regular pickup schedules based on volume. If the material accrues on a more unpredictable schedule, CheckSammy also offers on-demand, intermittent pickup.

Optionally, it can equip its bins with load sensors that can automatically notify when they are 85 percent full, and a CheckSammy hauler will arrive to empty it within 24 hours. The company adds that the sensors come in most handy for customers who have unanticipated spikes in volume, such as multifamily housing units.

Drop customers receive detailed reporting on how much of their scrap is redirected from landfills and how it is being recycled, which they can promote to their consumers.

“We’ve already done the work to navigate the complexity and find responsible solutions for retailers and other textile-heavy industries like hospitality and healthcare,” says CheckSammy co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Paul Botelho. “Our inspiration for launching CheckSammy Drop is to be the easy click or call when the solution doesn’t seem clear. Many organizations promote the steps they take to offer recycled shopping bags or sustainable stock goods. However, there’s still a significant opportunity to showcase to employees and customers the specific ways textiles and other goods are being diverted from landfills.”