Every year, CUCCR (Concordia University Centre for Creative Reuse) receives student association t-shirts from the previous year as well as fabric scraps from theatre costumes. This fabric waste is currently being piled up faster than it can be repurposed. Shredding fabric by hand is labor-intensive, and is not a realistic solution to the amount of textile received by CUCCR. There are currently no textile recycling facilities in Montreal where this fabric could locally be recycled, so exporting the fabric also is not a viable option.

CUCCR thus reached out to our team, currently undertaking our mechanical engineering capstone design project, to provide them with the equipment necessary for them to be able to obtain shoddy (recycled fiber shreds) as a recycled product. The fabric is thus to be repurposed to provide raw material for projects such as papermaking, mixed-media arts, upholstery, and other crafts.

On the long term, the goal would be for CUCCR to collect waste not only from Concordia, but also from other communities in Montreal. The final objective is thus to prevent as much textile waste from Montreal as possible to be buried in landfills. This project is thus going to benefit Concordia as well as the community surrounding Concordia.