Our Major Suppliers Include
Employees worldwide
mostly women, and the majority are underprivileged citizens of third world countries.
Clothing (pounds)
redirected from landfills.
About Canam Group
"We Are A Leader In The Textile Recycling Industry"
Recognized and accepted in over 40 countries for their ethical and transparent business practices, Canam Group has been a partial link in the global textile supply chain since the early 90’s.
With over 2 billion pounds of textile waste redirected and thousands of lives changed, Canam promotes a sustainable environment and safe community by providing underprivileged demographics with employment opportunities and mentorship, all while being treated as part of a family.
Canam advocates for a closed loop, circular textile economy by re-using, downcycling, and mechanically recycling textiles, which entails processing nearly half a million pounds of textiles per day! In the future, they look forward to investing in new, chemical recycling technologies, once they reach economies of scale. This would allow for more upcycling and high quality textile to textile recycling. This is ultimately the end goal of textile recycling as it would essentially create a closed loop system and achieve the holy grail of textile circularity and sustainability.
Our Process
Procurement and Processing
Step 1: Procure
We purchase textiles in bulk from thrift stores and charities across North America, Japan, Australia, etc.
We also purchase directly from the public. Bring your clothes to a drop-off location near you. Put them on the scale and get paid by the pound.
Step 2: Process
We sort, grade, and pack the clothing for shipments to over 40 countries.
We also remove buttons, zippers, and mutilate unwanted textiles for recycling.
Step 3: Recycle
Approximately 40% is reused while our associates downcycle the remaining textiles by mechanically shredding them before re-spinning the fibers for use in lower value products like insulation, wipers, carpets, and more.
Frequently Asked Questions
F.A.Q
- All used men’s, women’s, & children’s clothing
- All men’s, women’s, and children's shoes. Including dress shoes, slippers, sandals, runners, boots, etc.
- All men’s, women’s, children’s hats, bags, & belts. Purses, backpacks, wicker bags, computer bags, etc.
- Household textiles like bed sheets, comforters, bed covers, towels, table clothes, drapes, etc.
What We DON’T Want: Very torn or very dirty clothes, wet clothes, books, furniture, electronics, pots & pans, pillows, etc.
Yes. We wholesale sorted, used clothing by the container load (~20,000lbs minimum). We do not sell individual pieces of clothing except for special cases. Please email us if you would like to purchase smaller quantities in bulk.
There are no requirements to sell clothing to us! We accept and encourage everyone to recycle with us.
Currently, we sort the clothing by article & grade them by condition. Then we will package them into big and small bales which are then exported for recycling and re-use.
In India, where most of our production takes place, our processes include cutting textiles for use as wiping rags in industrial industries, and salvaging zippers, buttons, and metals, which are further recycled by our associates in India. Furthermore, our associates mechanically extract and re-spin fibers in order to downcycle textiles into less valuable products like insulation and carpets.
In the future, we hope to invest in machinery which allows us to mechanically extract and re-spin fibers in Canada instead of exporting overseas. Additionally, the chemical recycling of textiles by separating waste and by products from useful materials allows the creation of new, high quality textile fibers which allow for the creation of high value products like new clothing, but this technology is not currently scalable.
Overhead costs in North America, along with a lack of recycling infrastructure, make it extremely difficult for the textile recycling industry to be viable here, which is why shipping overseas is currently the only option. We hope to gain more federal or provincial support in order to keep the recycling operations within North America and create a more circular economy here, at home.
News
Canam in the News
Man Who's Made Riches from Rags | Hindustan Times
Hindustan Times, Chandigarh Oct 23rd, by Ravinder Banwait.
Mr. Darshan Singh Sahsi (Managing Director, Canam International) at the International Trade Committee
OpenParliament.ca
Our Vintage Retail Associates
We are proud to have partnered with several vintage clothing retailers, who contribute to the circular textile economy. These are some of our major retailer partners in Canada.
Pilot Projects and Textile Recycling Research
Our Team
Meet the Team
President
The child of a Sikh farmer, Darshan grew up in Punjab, India. His commendable work ethic and business acumen has allowed him to establish a successful textile recycling corporation which employs over 1000 people and has redirected over 2 billion pounds of clothing away from landfills. In his free time he enjoys going for walks with his wife, and listening to his favorite radio and news channels.
Darshan Sahsi
General Manager
As GM from day one, Kamal handles everything from finances to logistics. He is the first and last point of information for every detail of operations. He is a valuable and critical part of the team. Kamal and his family also operate a pizza shop in Abbotsford called Pizza Junction.
Kamal Kalra, GM
Director of Sustainability
Oldest son of Darshan and Schulich MBA graduate specializing in sustainability, Navi is currently researching industry and technological trends while cooperating with textile recycling stakeholders including major cities and retailers through recycling pilot projects and feasibility studies to assess the direction and viability of North American textile recycling in the future.
Navi Sahsi
Managing Director
Youngest Son of Darshan, Arpan is a UBC Business graduate with honors. Arpan is focusing on the collection aspect of the business, while studying to complete his MBA.