A five year **SSHRC Insight funded project to examine the donated Canadian secondhand clothing (SHC) stream. Applying systems thinking with a “Shifting the Burden” archetype as a theoretical framework, the research explores the SHC stream from mapping current infrastructure and material flows to an in-depth study of the sorting process at SHC donation centres. Selected participating donation centres include nonprofit and for-profit second-hand dealers across multiple Canadian provinces in both rural & urban settings.
The overarching question addressed in this research project is: How can we support the transition to a circular economy of clothing and textiles through local recirculation where materials are kept at highest value recapture?
The proposed research project has three specific objectives to address this question using a mixed-methods approach:
Describe the current sorting processes of donated SHC by select Canadian donation centres who collect and sort donated second-hand goods;
Define the quality and condition of SHC donations in terms of fibre, fabric, garment type and appropriateness for recirculation streams such as reuse, repair, refurbish and/or recycling in Canada;
Identify the major performance measures, challenges and opportunities in the reverse value chain activities that sort and grade Canadian used clothes, representing the bulk of textiles sent to international markets and/or destined for landfill (local & abroad).
Outcomes of this research seek to identify leverage points in the clothing sorting process as potential places for interventions. Solutions targeting specific leverage points can lead to better processes and behaviours for local recirculation and ultimately diversion from landfill both local and abroad. The goal is to prevent us (i.e., Canada) from shifting our textile waste via SHC donation, to countries who are not the ones who should be responsible for managing our SHC waste and who are ill-equipped to deal with it.
Results will benefit stakeholders within the second-hand clothing industry, textile recyclers, municipal waste management and key private Canadian businesses in integrating circular textile practices. Benefits to scholarship include insights and new pathways for sustainable fashion design and fashion designers in developing design practices for a circular textile economy in Canada.
** The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada is a Canadian federal research-funding agency that promotes and supports post-secondary research and training in the humanities and social sciences.