There are no other companies operating at the scale we are
CheckSammy is revolutionising the bulk waste removal and sustainability solutions sector across the US, offering on-demand services that combine technology and commitment to sustainability. With a focus on cost-effective, flexible waste management and recycling, the company is transforming the way businesses and consumers tackle the challenge of sustainability. Speaking to Fibre2Fashion, CEO & Co-founder Sam Scoten explains how the company is setting the industry standard for sustainable materials management and diversion.
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind starting CheckSammy and what problem it aims to solve?
The inspiration behind CheckSammy stems from my commitment to addressing the environmental impact of waste. While on a trip in Hawaii, I could not help but notice how many guests at the resorts where I stayed would purchase new beach toys, only to discard them when they left. Witnessing this wasteful trend firsthand affected me and I was determined to take action.
When I returned home to Vancouver, I wanted to find a solution that maximised reuse and minimised waste in multifamily facilities. That is when the idea for CheckSammy was born. We established a system where residents could repurpose and share usable items instead of simply throwing them away.
As the demand for our services grew, so did our reach. We started on the West Coast and eventually expanded across the US, adopting a scalable, on-demand model using local haulers. It has been incredibly rewarding to see CheckSammy evolve from a simple idea to a solution that helps communities across the country reduce waste and promote sustainability.
What sets CheckSammy apart from other similar platforms or services in the market?
CheckSammy really is unique–we aim to be the go-to solutions provider for facility managers and sustainability executives, consistently meeting their evolving needs. Our innovative gig-economy business model enables us to flexibly scale services in response to market changes, weather conditions, events, and even holidays. With a focus on data and evidence, we ensure accurate billing for customers and fair compensation for hauling partners, along with detailed chain-of-custody reporting throughout the material life cycle. Unlike franchisee-owned or employee-based models, our approach offers lower costs, national coverage, and the flexibility to expand beyond core services such as emergency bulk materials pickup and sustainability logistics to include optional add-on offerings like pressure washing, open tops, and emergency commercial cleaning.
Our tailored programmes cater to the specific requirements of each industry. Take, for instance, our textile recycling programme, designed to assist our customers in the retail sector to responsibly manage their textile waste. Within this comprehensive solution, we provide debranding services aimed at mitigating both physical and reputational risks associated with recycling and donating goods. Before passing items to our recycling or resale partners, we make sure that our customers’ brand identity is completely removed from the discarded products.
How do you ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information provided through CheckSammy?
Our Veridiant platform operates on the principle of ‘auditable and verifiable data’, establishing a framework that guarantees the integrity of the data. Veridiant employs advanced verification mechanisms to validate the data before it is shared and enables traceability and accountability at every stage of the process. Because of our gig economy model, our contracted haulers must document every step of the way, enabling us to capture and track the data and metadata from start to finish. Through comprehensive audit trails and transparent reporting mechanisms, we ensure that the origin, accuracy, and reliability of the data can be traced and verified with ease, allowing clients to benchmark and improve their ESG and diversion scores.
Could you walk us through the process a user goes through when using CheckSammy to accomplish a task?
With CheckSammy, businesses have access to a streamlined process to enhance sustainability and divert textiles and other materials efficiently. We first assess the company’s materials management needs, crafting a customised plan that focuses on diverting excess materials away from landfills towards recycling, upcycling, or proper disposal facilities. Leveraging our hauler and facility network, we provide flexible, on-demand services adjusted for volume and urgency without requiring long-term contracts. Throughout this process, the Veridiant platform tracks and optimises data collection on waste diversion, offering users detailed analytics for ESG reporting. This approach helps address immediate waste management needs and aligns with broader sustainability goals, demonstrating tangible environmental impacts.
How do you envision CheckSammy evolving in the next few years? Any upcoming features or expansions?
With our recent secured funding, we are continuing to expand and enhance our service offerings, including transforming Veridiant into a comprehensive SaaS (Sustainability as a Service) platform that offers manufacturers the ability to monetise their excess materials, create carbon inset and offset credits, while providing detailed job data and certificates of diversion. We are also expanding our textile mail-back programme, making it much easier for dispersed locations to divert excess textiles sustainably.
Can you share any success stories or notable achievements CheckSammy has had since its launch?
Since I founded CheckSammy, we have made many notable achievements, but one that stands out involved a fashion retailer transitioning to more inclusive mannequins to better represent their diverse customer base. Facing the challenges of disposing of nearly 60,000 mannequins across more than 800 locations in North America, we devised a sustainable solution that also upheld the client’s environmental and brand reputation concerns. We coordinated the collection, diversion, and recycling of these mannequins, routing them to 20 designated recycling facilities across the continent. Despite logistical hurdles, this project yielded impressive results, diverting 165 tons of carbon, recycling 107,341 pounds of metal, and repurposing 340,455 pounds of plastics. Through processes and collaboration, we not only met but exceeded our customer’s expectations, establishing new partnerships and laying the groundwork for future environmentally-conscious endeavours, particularly in the textile space.
How do you stay updated with the latest trends and changes in the industries you serve?
We take pride in working closely with our partners and customers to understand and meet their specific needs, allowing us to tailor our services to provide targeted, effective solutions. This customer-centric approach, combined with strategic partnerships, ensures that CheckSammy not only keeps pace with industry advancements but also leads in delivering innovative and adaptive materials management and sustainability services. Many of our service expansions–from power washing to emergency cleaning and open-top containers–came as the direct result of our clients asking us to provide the service to them, because they appreciated our ability to service any location so quickly, anywhere in the country.
What challenges have you faced while building and growing the company, and how have you overcome them?
Many prospective CheckSammy customers are unaware of the solutions available to the challenges they face, so we make a lot of effort to educate them on waste diversion opportunities, highlighting the value of sustainable materials management and the associated data. Overcoming these hurdles demanded major technological investments, notably in the development of the Veridiant platform, which enhances data collection and operational efficiency. We have also cultivated a strong network of haulers and facilities to ensure nationwide coverage, even in non-urban areas, typically within 24 hours.
Our efforts to educate customers about the financial and environmental advantages of our services have reshaped their understanding of the possibilities in sustainability and waste diversion. By prioritising flexibility, exceptional customer service, and innovation, we have tackled these challenges, setting the industry standard for sustainable materials management and diversion.
How does CheckSammy contribute to creating a more efficient and informed society, particularly in the areas it focuses on?
Our state-of-the-art Veridiant platform empowers companies to extract detailed insights into their ESG landscape with never-before-seen transparency, helping them track, analyse, and optimise material diversion processes from manufacturing to end-of-life diversion. Veridiant captures data at the source, allowing companies to leverage it for optimising ESG scores and diversion metrics and the creation of verified carbon insets. This provides accurate sustainability reporting while enabling companies to reduce the volume of carbon offsets purchased in favour of more tangible emissions reduction.
What recent trends have you observed in the online marketplace/service aggregation industry, and how is CheckSammy adapting to these changes?
Amidst the criticism facing ESG for its limited impact, sustainability reporting creates incremental credibility with the impending SEC climate risk disclosure regulations. Although the ruling may overlook Scope 3 emissions, there is widespread acknowledgment of the ongoing significance of reporting on these emissions, reflecting the enduring trend towards transparency in sustainability reporting. CheckSammy aligns with the increasing demand for sustainability services, enhanced by the verification and reporting capabilities of Veridiant. Additionally, we see the benefits of the circular economy for manufacturers and are implementing a materials marketplace that allows manufacturers to pre-plan the end-of-life phase for their excess materials, by monetising them to the facilities that need textile, plastic, and other types of feedstocks.
How do you see the role of online marketplaces evolving in the next few years, and what opportunities do you think this presents for companies like CheckSammy?
Online marketplaces will likely see increased emphasis on sustainability, transparency, and the use of advanced technologies for efficiency. For companies like CheckSammy, this evolution presents opportunities to lead in the green services sector, particularly with sustainable waste diversion solutions. Data verification and the associated diversion reporting are also critical to ensuring companies that divert materials can quantify their level of diversion and promote their improvements.
With the rise of e-commerce and online services, what challenges do you anticipate for online marketplaces in terms of user trust, data privacy, and regulatory compliance, and how is CheckSammy addressing these challenges?
People demand transparency and security in how their data is handled, while marketplaces must navigate a complex landscape of national and local regulations, which are becoming stricter. We are addressing these challenges by prioritising data security and privacy, ensuring that user information is protected while enhancing transparency, and offering customers detailed insights into their waste management practices, and sustainability metrics. This not only builds trust with users by providing clear, verifiable data but also helps companies meet emerging regulatory requirements related to environmental impact reporting.
In what ways does CheckSammy facilitate the growth and success of businesses in its network and what strategies do you employ to ensure a positive user experience for both businesses and consumers?
At CheckSammy, we prioritise customer service and transparent communication. We ensure that our customers receive prompt and efficient support, along with clear information. Our mission is to remove barriers to materials diversion and sustainability reporting. We assist companies in validating their green claims and achieving their sustainability objectives while addressing complex logistical hurdles they may encounter on their own. At our heart, we are a sustainability logistics provider, making it easy for companies to divert materials quickly, anywhere across the country through our vast network of haulers and material disposition facilities.
As the online marketplace/service aggregation landscape becomes increasingly competitive, what strategies does CheckSammy employ to differentiate itself and maintain its position as a trusted platform for users?
There are no other companies operating at the scale we are, in the way that we do. Leveraging the largest network of haulers and facilities, we offer unparalleled national coverage that others would struggle to reach. This scale of operation enables us to provide flexible, on-demand services tailored to the specific needs of business. Our commitment to operational efficiency, customer service, and innovative solutions helps us to provide a positive and cost-effective user experience that allows us to maintain the trust of our partners and customers.
