Getting a Handle on Textile Waste at FABSCRAP

When we think of the fashion design world, we think of gorgeous silhouettes, luxurious fabrics, chic models, and cutting-edge couture.

Not Jessica Schreiber, founder and CEO of FABSCRAP. She thinks scraps, yardage, and waste. After graduating from Columbia with a Master’s in climate and society, Jessica worked for the Bureau of Recycling in the NYC Department of Sanitation.

While there, Jessica was approached by fashion houses looking for ways to recycle their ever-growing fabric waste instead of adding it to landfill. For Jessica, an idea took root: establish a clearinghouse for the reams of unused raw material generated by the fashion and interior design industries in NYC that could be reused and recycled.

Fast-forward to her appearance on Project Runway: Fashion Startup, where Jessica successfully pitched her idea and was awarded grants to get it off the ground. FABSCRAP’s doors opened in 2016 at Brooklyn’s Army Terminal, and the textiles began pouring in.

FABSCRAP’s co-founder and Creative Director, Camille Tagle, came from the opposite side of the textile industry from Jessica. Camille was an eveningwear designer for high-end brands in New York City. There she saw first-hand the extreme waste that was a by-product of each design from one season to the next. Much of this waste included reams of reusable yardage. She joined Jessica at FABSCRAP in 2018. The two, along with the FAB Team of about 15 full- and part-time employees, are tireless advocates for the long-term environmental sustainability of the fashion industry.

The fashion industry has a waste problem

It’s no secret that we have a global waste problem, but many people may not know that the fashion industry consistently ranks among the top five of the world’s biggest environmental polluters, contributing more than 6 million tons of waste from the design and production phase alone.¹  That makes the scale of FABSCRAP’s endeavor enormous. According to Rachel Ceruti, FABSCRAP’s Director of Partnerships, Outreach, and Education, the organization is currently processing about 6,000-8,000 lbs. of textiles per week, and since its launch in 2016, FABSCRAP has diverted 1.6 million lbs. of fabric from landfill.

How does FABSCRAP work?

FABSCRAP makes it as painless as possible for its 500+ participating brands to give their “waste” new life and maximize the value of unused fabric by providing sorting bags and picking them up when ready.  Clients range from multinational brands like URBN, Marc Jacobs, Oscar de la Renta, and J. Crew, to smaller, niche companies like Hickey Freeman, Yoma Textiles, and Sarah Musa. FABSCRAP lauds their partner companies with increasing their accountability and funding the infrastructure needed to deal with the industry’s waste.

Asked if FABSCRAP has any competitors, Ceruti says, “Our biggest competitor is the landfill, which is free.”

Companies pay a service fee to FABSCRAP based on the frequency and volume of material determined by weight. For those not affiliated with a brand – crafters, design students, textile artists, etc. – FABSCRAP accepts fabric scraps for a recycling service fee of $2/pound.

Once the “waste” enters the FABSCRAP warehouse, the sorting process begins:

• All items are sorted to either be recycled or reused
• The piles to be recycled consist of small scraps and proprietary material (fabric with logos or brand designs) which are then shredded and recycled to make “shoddy” – the filler that makes up insulation, carpet padding, furniture lining, mattress stuffing, etc.
• All of the reusable material is either offered for sale online or in FABSCRAP’s Brooklyn warehouse shop or given away to fashion design students, artists, crafters, etc.
• As a result, very little ends up in the trash.

Interestingly, fabric samples – those small swatch books you see at furniture stores and design firms – make up a huge percentage of textile waste. FABSCRAP volunteers are instructed on how to take the books apart and determine if the fabric scraps can be used or added to the “shoddy” pile.

Sorting

You might be wondering how all that stuff gets sorted once it lands at FABSCRAP. Volunteers, lots and lots of volunteers. Volunteers are an integral part of the FABSCRAP sorting process, engaging more than 10,000 people since its 2016 inception. In 2023 alone, 236,000 lbs of material have been sorted. FABSCRAP has come up with creative ways to recruit and keep volunteers coming back, like offering corporate team-building outings, Sip and Sort nights, and giving volunteers 5 lbs of material of their choice from the shop.

Asked how the FAB Team stays on track and doesn’t get overwhelmed by the ceiling-high stacks of scrap bags in their warehouse, Ceruti explains, “We have operational systems in place so that things are constantly moving through the system.”

Shopping at FABSCRAP

A maker’s dream awaits at the FABSCRAP shop in their Brooklyn warehouse or their online store. No matter what type of fabric you’re searching for, FABSCRAP probably has it: silks, cottons, twills, leather, upholstery, faux fur, buttons, ribbons, and twine. Also on offer are yard packs and scrap packs sorted by color and fabric type and racks of “mendables” – items of sample clothing from design houses that need minor mending and some TLC.

Finding the funds

FABSCRAP endeavors to end commercial textile “waste” and maximize the value of unused fabric. A 501(c)3 non-profit organization, FABSCRAP’s revenue is generated primarily from fabric sales and service fees, with supplemental support from corporate, state, and individual donations and grants.

Major grants in 2023 came from URBN, Steve Madden, and Rochester Institute of Technology/NYS Pollution Prevention Institute, among others.

“FABSCRRAP has a unique non-profit model,” says Ceruti. “80-85% of our revenue comes directly from self-generated income with only 20% from grants and donations.”

FABSCRAP has a robust outreach program and devotes time and resources to promoting the importance of increased transparency and awareness of commercial waste in the fashion and interior design industries. The FAB Team regularly loads up their truck with fabric rolls, textile scraps, notions, etc., and goes on the road visiting fashion and design schools, high schools, and corporations. Recent stops include the Fashion Institute of Technology, Parsons School of Design, Pratt Institute, and Moore College of Art and Design. A major goal of their outreach is to educate a new generation of designers about the environmental impact of their designs.

The impact

Ceruti described the wide-ranging impact that FABSCRAP has: “We can create bridges and make connections by reaching out to all sides and engage them; everything from working with brands on low-waste design, working with our sewing community on upcycling denim, doing fabric pop-ups at schools. We’re uniquely positioned…to make a real impact.”