Madeline Miller moves seamlessly amid the chaos of piles of used clothing and fabrics crowding every available surface at NexTiles, the textile recycling business she founded at 1360 Oakman Blvd. in Detroit’s Durfee neighborhood.
The company’s mission is to decrease the amount of textiles going to landfills while offering continuous education about the environmental impacts of textile waste. And at the heart of it is Miller.
After graduating from the University of Miami with a master’s degree in marine sciences in 2020, then-24-year-old Miller searched for what direction to take her career next. Her initial idea was to work within the fashion and design industry. She had just completed a 4-month internship in 2019 as a data analyst with FABSCRAP, a Brooklyn-based textile recycling and reuse business.
She describes the birth of NexTiles as “the woe that became.”
“I didn’t anticipate a career in textile recycling,” she says. “While attending the University of Miami, my interests were preserving natural resources and understanding what’s happening to our air, soil, and water resources. In the midst of that research, I started to understand the journey of landfill waste.”
The COVID-19 pandemic created an opportunity for Miller to take a step away from the fashion-forward, fast-paced atmosphere of New York. She dove deeper into learning about the textile industry’s ecological footprint and the importance of diverting landfill waste.
The fast fashion industry generates enormous waste, with many fabrics ending up in landfills or incinerators. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, an estimated 17 million tons of textiles are thrown away annually in the United States alone. These textiles are forgotten and underutilized resources that could be repurposed or recycled. On average, landfills are 2.8 times more likely to be located in areas with a high percentage of BIPOC residents, causing health concerns.
Miller started to think less about the fashion industry’s design side and focused more on its ecological impacts. Through her internship at FABSCRAP, she gained an understanding of how textile factories impacted underserved neighborhoods and residents.
She began to see the potential for upscaled products made from recycled fabric, like insulation. As she began to understand the scale of the global textile waste issue, she was inspired by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s vision of creating a new, circular textile economy.
In 2020, Miller returned to her hometown of Detroit during the pandemic’s peak and launched NexTiles. She says the city was a perfect place for her to launch a business, especially since she had the support of her parents, both successful Detroit entrepreneurs.
“I was so much more comfortable being here and building here and being up under my family,” she says.
Building a business around textile recycling in Detroit
When Miller launched the business, her first clients were automotive interior manufacturers. NexTiles currently serves Metro Detroit businesses, who can request a pick-up of their textile waste. Once the textile waste is received and recycled from NexTiles, the fabrics and garments will be used to create new products from recycled fabrics.
NexTiles also offers EcoBlow insulation, which is fabricated from recycled pre-consumer fabric. Miller says the material is fire- and insect-resistant and can be used in place of fiberglass insulation.
In addition to her work with NexTiles, Miller is pursuing a Ph.D. in environment and sustainability at the University of Michigan. Juggling graduate school with business ownership is no easy task. She credits NexTiles’ daily success to her Director of Operations, Sabina Montinar, whom Miller met in 2019 during her FABSCRAP internship.
“Her experience in operations has been such a pivotal part of sustaining the business and ensuring we don’t waste time or resources,” Miller says. “Having systems put into place is so important to me and our work here.”
And one visit to the facility shows why. Textile recycling in Detroit is a messy and dusty business, and the safety and well-being of NexTiles employees is a major priority for Miller, who comes from a family with severe allergies to dust particles. All employees are provided high-quality masks and adequate air ventilation, and Miller says the company is diligent about compliance with workplace health best practices.
Montinar has implemented an efficient system for customers and employees at NexTiles to follow, especially regarding the textile waste pickup service. Customers are provided 10-20 bags to fill up front. Once customers have at least 10 bags filled, they can call NexTiles to schedule pickup or dropoff.
The system creates an “efficient routine,” Montinar says. “Instead of scheduling one-offs, this way, it’s easier and more efficient for both the client and our team here at NexTiles.”
NexTiles’ team includes veterans, Detroit residents, and others who may face barriers to traditional employment. They work out of a NexTiles processing center within the Focus: HOPE facility.
NexTiles also provides a summer internship for college students, allowing them to explore their curiosity and get a taste of their field before graduation. This past summer, Miller and Montinar hosted four University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and Clark Atlanta University interns for a hybrid internship. The interns focused on client onboarding, outreach, and marketing. Both Montinar and Miller work to identify interns’ interests and experience.
“It’s vital to us for our interns not only to learn but to encourage them to share their creativity and thoughts. We’re always invested and interested in learning from them,” Montinar says.
Each intern is invited to the Focus: HOPE facility, where they can see the textile sorting station, shredding through a granulator, and the overall operation at NexTiles.
Within the coming months, NexTiles will launch an interactive warehouse experience where people can see and touch textiles in the company’s space, providing a more in-depth inside look at some of the steps involved in NexTiles’ material processing.
Miller says her job is hard work but worthwhile.
“I don’t see myself as an expert, and I’m constantly learning every single day how to improve and take better care of our natural resources,” she says. “There’s always new research out there, and I know I have a long way to go, but that fuels me to continue. I’m always motivated to learn from every opportunity”.
Read all stories in our series Inside Detroit’s circular fashion economy.