Someone recently told me that every night while trying to fall asleep, they think about garbage. Specifically, the ever-growing mountains of discarded apparel in the global south. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably seen the horrifying photos of the fast fashion graveyard in Chile’s Atacama desert, or the overflowing landfills in Panipat, India. Just last week, over 60% of Ghana’s Kantamanto Market was destroyed by devastating fires. It’s undeniable: we have a serious trash problem.
If you aren’t experiencing nightly visions of towering waste, you’re likely still haunted by the fashion cycle in other ways. Maybe you’ve blocked Cider, you’ve sworn off Zara, and you’re slowly but surely getting your mom off Temu. You’re mending, you’re thrifting, you’re screaming into the void. But somehow, it feels like things just keep getting worse, because the most dire change needs to come from the fashion industry itself. Luckily, there are people who have set out to make that change happen.
I recently went to Brooklyn to meet with Camille Tagle, co-founder of FabScrap. Part recycling plant, part data collection company, and part store, FabScrap is a truly one-of-a-kind organization working to make real, effective change in the fashion industry. In my conversation with Tagle, we discuss fashion waste, textile processing, how FabScrap works, and how you can get involved.
As I step through the doors of FabScrap, the first thing I see is trash. The Brooklyn Army Terminal has very high ceilings, and yet the towering pile of black garbage bags still brushes against the lights. But unlike most enormous piles of trash, this heap is actually a good sign. Everything in these bags has been diverted from fashion retailers, giving it the rare opportunity to live a new life.
FabScrap’s Red Hook headquarters receives over 7,000 pounds of material each week. Volunteers help sort through everything that’s brought in, where it’s carefully tracked and processed for reuse, recycling, downcycling, and the landfill. Since starting operations in 2016, the organization has been acting as a much-needed middle man between the fashion industry and the garbage industry.
Unsurprisingly, the garment manufacturing process rarely includes consideration of its byproducts. Many companies throw out entire bolts of extra fabric, scraps from cutting, samples, hundreds of unused buttons, the list goes on. They have no idea how much trash they’re really making, how much waste could be avoided, or how to fix any of it. That’s where FabScrap comes in.
“Most of the time when [businesses] find out about us, it’s like ‘oh thank god’ rather than ‘let me think about it,’” Tagle says about their relationship with fashion brands. “People ask all the time, ‘why hasn’t this already existed?’ And it’s because it’s hard. Who wants to volunteer to do it? There’s the sorting itself, and the storage to even be able to hold it while it’s being processed, but then also the data gathering. All of those things aren’t really that sexy. They’re things none of the brands want to do, or are taught to do.”
Walking further into the space reveals a colorful back room full of shelves, tables, and barrels displaying spools of thread, rolls of vinyl, and metal cans full of faux fur. Afternoon sun filters in through the windowed side wall, warmly illuminating rolls of leather and tulle. This is the “store” part of FabScrap’s operations, where the public is invited to shop the diverted materials after they’ve been sorted, analyzed, and processed. The retail space attracts everyone from fashion students to designers to retirees that just love to sew.


“We have leather hides, cones of yarn, trims… Pretty much anything you would need to make a garment, we have here,” Tagle explains as we walk through the space. Though a majority of their customers are in the traditional fashion industry, FabScrap also works with costume designers, entertainers, and interior designers. One of the most essential parts of their retail business is sorting carefully and thoughtfully, ensuring the highest likelihood that everything ends up being re-used.
The care shows in the way the space is arranged: items are labeled and displayed not unlike a traditional craft store. But instead of endless selection, there are limited amounts of each material. “For people who are sourcing here, the challenge is in the approach,” Tagle tells me. “Instead of trying to find the fabric that’s in your head, it’s more about trying to design from what already exists.”
For small businesses, these limitations can be a lifeline. “The fabrics we have here are the perfect quantities for them, because they need less than 100 yards,” Tagle says of the many fashion entrepreneurs they work with. “They need the flexibility, and there are no minimums here.”


When working with big brands, the challengers are bigger too. I’m understandably skeptical when it comes to fashion corporations, and I ask what incentives they have to make the kinds of changes FabScrap is advocating for.
“Commercial brands have to pay for their trash anyway,” Tagle explains. “It might be a little bit more expensive to choose us in your recycling or trash service, but the benefits outweigh [the costs] in so many ways. It’s almost like, why wouldn’t you?”
For many brands, FabScrap aligns with the social responsibility pledges they’ve made to their consumers. Thanks to efforts of activists and fed-up customers (that’s us!), many companies have no choice but to make changes to stay in our favor. And as long as we keep up the pressure in our legislation, our shopping habits, and even in comment sections, even more brands may be forced to step in line.
“Another thing that’s less incentive and more threat, is policy,” Tagle says with a laugh. “It won’t even be [the business’] choice after a while, eventually there are going to be certain mandates. So if you’re starting early to try and adopt systems, by the time that legislation lands, you’re already set up versus scrambling.” In New York City, recycling is a requirement for any business with 10% or more of their commercial waste coming from textile material. Hopefully better requirements continue to be put in place, and other states will follow suit.
I think about the number Tagle provided earlier: 7,000 pounds a week. I’m fascinated by this kind of data, of pulling specific quantities from the bags and the piles.
“[A lot of it is] connected to the possible recycling outcomes of specific fabrics,” she says when describing the information they’re collecting. “If your percentage is skewing higher for things that had no choice but to go to landfill, it’s because you’re using leather, or plastic sequins, or there are hard components in the materials you’re buying. If a lot of it is skewing towards recycling, then you’re not using those components, and it’s probably a mix of cellulosic and synthetic fibers. And if a lot of your fabric is skewing towards reuse, it means you’re overbuying. You can probably order less yardage, or look at how you’re working with marketing or sales to [order fewer] units.”
I’ve definitely noticed the cultural conversation around fibers and fabrics start to change, and I’m excited to hear that shift reflected in those actually working in the industry. This kind of expertise comes from Tagle’s decade plus career in fashion design, perfectly paired with co-founder and CEO Jessica Schreiber’s work in sanitation.


“I saw enough of it to know that it wasn’t just the brands I was working with, it was everyone,” said Tagle of her days on the other side of the industry. “When I would be on fabric appointments, talking to the mills, I’d just start to piece together that the issue is very widespread. When I met my partner, Jessica, who was working for sanitation, she was also getting questions from a lot of brands. ‘Does New York even have a set up for this?’ The answer was no. It was super super clear that people wanted a solution, and there wasn’t one, which is why we’ve been met with so much enthusiasm.”
An essential part of that enthusiasm also comes from the community aspect of FabScrap, built around their retail space, events, and educational outreach.
“There is not enough evolution of the curriculum to include some of these steps that’s were doing,” Tagle said. “That’s my biggest criticism right now of design schools and fashion schools. We’re very active in doing presentations and visiting schools, bringing fabric. I think there are still some gaps in how everything is interconnected. That’s our challenge, to really just educate where there are opportunities that aren’t being taken advantage of. It’s about changing our way of thinking, and our approach.”


Many of those same students become FabScrap customers, and it makes sense - their retail model is perfect for someone who’s learning. The materials are affordable and sustainable, yet are presented in a challenging and thought-provoking way.
“You’re starting from scratch with the education on fibers versus weaves,” Tagle says of their student buyers. “And that makes a difference in the industry - what can be recycled, and how easily it can be recycled.” Beyond simply a space to shop, FabScrap is full of knowledgeable staff and volunteers that actually understand the industry, all of its implications, and most importantly, how the solutions work.
One of the biggest challenges they face is labor. “The sorting part is something we’re trying to figure out,” said Tagle. “We’re constantly trying to evaluate. How do we make it more efficient? How do we get more volunteers in?”
“Where we really try to focus with our community is that you as an individual can make a difference, and these are the ways you can get involved with us. That could be by helping us sort, which is very educational. Or, because you’re a creative and you make things, [you can] choose to make things out of reusable items.”
“Fabric is one of the things that can cross cultures and languages and backgrounds,” said Tagle. “Everyone comes together over fabric.”
We chat for a while longer about our mutual love of vintage fashion and textile history. After a while she has to head to a meeting, and I stay behind for a bit to roam the store space. It’s been a while since I’ve knitted anything, but I start looking at the yarn to see if anything feels like it might kick-start an old hobby. I hear a quiet voice, and realize that the one other shopper in the space is talking to me.
Just behind me stands a woman with a warm smile and beautiful gray hair. She tells me that she couldn’t help but overhear part of our conversation, and she wants to recommend a book. It’s called The Dress Diary, she explains, and it’s a story told through the textile scrapbook of a woman from the Victorian period. I’m immediately intrigued, pulling it up in a browser window on my phone to come back to later. We talk about fabric, about what brought her to FabScrap (she’s visiting from out of state), and she proudly tells me about her daughter’s business. We exchange information before we part ways, and I’m warmed by the ease and depth of our brief interaction. It feels like a perfect reflection of exactly what FabScrap is working so hard to create - change and community in a cleaner, nicer world.
To learn more about FabScrap, please visit their website and follow them on Instagram.
If you’re a business that wants to learn more about textile recycling, a school or organization that wants to host a workshop or lecture, or you’re an individual looking to volunteer, see this page. If FabScrap’s mission is really speaking to you, they’re also hiring!
I will absolutely be attending future events and workshops - I hope to see you there!