Textile waste a growing environmental concern

The last quarter of each year is chock-full of festivals--which, traditionally, is when Indians shop for new clothes, spurred on by myriad sales and big discounts.

The textile industry is a vital sector of the Indian economy, contributing 2.3 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), 13 percent of industrial production and 12 percent of exports. But this also means that the quantities of textile waste generated and needed to be managed in the country is massive: Approximately 7.8 million tonnes or 8. percent of global textile waste, is accumulated in India every year. India is also among the top three countries in the world in textile waste generation.

The answer, say experts, lies in shifting to a circular economy as compared to the traditional linear economy of making, selling and disposing goods. The circular model uses resources for as long as possible through processes such as reuse, recycle and up-cycle, thereby minimising pollution and waste.

In India, textile recycling is not new. The country established its recycling industry in the 1990s and has a “stronghold” on mechanical recycling, according to a 2023 analysis by IDH and Sattva Consulting. Even so, 17 percent of textile waste ends up in landfills. “This [systematic recycling] has been more at the industrial level,” said Kanika Ahuja, director of Conserve India, an NGO that works on environmental conservation.

According to a report by the Textile Committee, under the Ministry of Textiles, the industry is known globally as a polluter because of its greenhouse gas emissions, discharge of wastewater, dumping of used clothes, and the use of chemicals that are often carcinogenic. Greenhouse gas emissions by the global textile industry are greater than those from shipping and international air travel, combined, as IndiaSpend reported in December 2021.

Further, the global fashion industry is also the second-biggest consumer of water, we had reported. It takes 3,781 litres of water--equivalent to the amount of water a person drinks over a period of three years--to make a pair of jeans, starting from the production of cotton to the retail delivery of the final product.

Textile waste is divided into three categories: pre-consumer waste, which is waste generated during the manufacturing process; post-consumer waste, which is used as clothing, bedding, towels, etc); and imported waste. The effective management of such waste holds not only potential for environmental benefits but also for economic and social benefits.

IndiaSpend reached out to Rachna Shah, secretary, Ministry of Textiles, and Rohit Kansal, additional secretary in the ministry, to ask about government initiatives to manage textile waste and the measures taken to decentralise recycling, including at the policy level. We will update this story when we receive a response.

Initiatives across the country

Anshu Gupta is the founder of Goonj, an organisation working on the reuse and repurposing of textile waste. “In the last 10 years we have re-used more than 63 million kgs of textile waste,” Gupta told IndiaSpend. A primary focus of the organisation is to meet the clothing needs of those struck by climate disasters. Over time, Goonj has started re-purposing textile in other ways such as by making bags, mattresses and quilts, as well as sanitary napkins. Gupta calls textile a resource and said they work with “that which is considered waste by some”, thereby generating cloth-based employment for those involved in the process.

In Gujarat’s Kachchh, a Circular Khadi project in a handloom cluster saw the upcycling of cotton and khadi waste into handspun yarn that can be used to make new products. This experiment did not just use the circular economy concept in the handloom textile sector, Ahuja explained, but also created a space within the process in which traditional artisans like spinners and weavers played a role. The project was a collaboration between Khadi London, Where Does it Come From (UK), Conserve India and Khamir, an NGO in Kachchh that works with craftspeople.

In Delhi, a social enterprise called SilaiWali has upcycled 15 tonnes of textile waste in the last six years to make at least 250 types of products. “We upcycle apparel scraps to make different products--the signature one being our handmade doll,” Bishwadeep Moitra, co-founder of SilaiWali told IndiaSpend. The enterprise is recognised as a manufacturer of upcycled fabric by the Ministry of Textiles.

SilaiWali began as an initiative by Moitra and his wife, Iris Strill, to empower women with a sustainable source of income, and started with 300 Afghan refugee women who were adept at stitching and embroidery. SilaiWali has since collaborated with luxury brands, both international and domestic, to sell products such as keychains, Christmas decorations and other home decor. They are now expanding work and are in the process of training women in West Bengal and Rajasthan.

Zero Waste Ladakh is also guided by the same principle: generate income from textile waste and in doing so, sustain the environment. “Ladakh does not have textile industries but has a lot of tailors’ shops which generate large amounts of textile scrap,” Mipham Jigmet, co-founder of the enterprise said. Registered in 2021, Zero Waste Ladakh has trained women of self-help groups and upcycled more than 200 kg of textile waste to create products like bags, coasters, cushions and pouches. “These products are sold in the local market, fulfilling our aim of generating income from waste,” he added.

The whole process--of turning waste into a product of value--is, however, not simple. In the Kachchh experiment, Khamir, the NGO, collected the Khadi and cotton waste, and did the first level of sorting, while Conserve India did another round, followed by segregation and shredding. “It was not easy to spin this shredded fabric into yarn and the spinners had to tweak their traditional technique in order to do so,” Ashna Patel of Khadi London said. Although they were supported with training, Ghatit Laheru of Khamir added that this process showcased the skill and potential of traditional craftspeople like hand spinners and weavers, “and the role they can play in the waste management process”. “Kachchh has so much Batik, Bandhani, block printing fabric--the waste generated as well as the potential is huge,” he said.

One of the biggest challenges in this journey however, was to find a small-scale shredder which could be placed at the cluster level in order to decentralise the process, Patel said.

Similar projects are planned with other natural fibres such as silk and indigenous wool. According to Vasant Saberwal of Centre for Pastoralism (CfP) which works with the civil society, government and the private sector to enhance pastoralist livelihood security, “80 percent of indigenous wool in India is discarded”. The reason, he explained, is that the weaving of textiles made of indigenous wool is labour- and time-intensive, which means they are priced higher than the ones made of acrylic.

This, combined with a shift in consumer preferences in favour of 'modern' and soft garments has contributed to a decline in the sale of traditional woollen textiles, a 2022 report by CfP said.

Indigenous wool is often coarse and this, according to the Wool Research Association under the Ministry of Textiles, is the reason why it is not favoured and hence discarded.

However, it is this very coarseness that gives indigenous wool thermal insulation and acoustic properties, making it an ideal green building material. As compared to other commonly used insulation material like fibreglass and rock wool, sheep wool is eco-friendly and renewable; it reduces production costs and environmental pollution because it has “less embodied energy than other materials”. CfP, said Saberwal, is working with other organisations, innovators, architects and designers to use discarded indigenous wool as insulation material.

Lack of governmental policy a hindrance

Although efforts are being made by different organisations to manage textile waste, India does not have a government policy yet on textile waste management, like it does about plastic waste. Anil Gupta, member of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, reasoned that this was because textile waste can be recycled and is not necessarily a ‘waste’.

In 2023, the Union government told Rajya Sabha that it is implementing a project called Enhancing Circularity and Sustainability in India, in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme. It has also approved three projects on textile waste recycling.

“The government of India supports the concept of a circular economy whereby there is maximum utilisation of a product,” Anil Gupta told IndiaSpend. “Wealth should be generated from waste, and textiles, which some consider is something to be disposed of, can be made into usable products for others.”

Ahuja added that synthetic textiles are a source of microplastics in the environment. The washing processes of synthetic textiles have been assessed as the main source of microplastic pollution in oceans. Fast fashion accounts for high levels of such releases because of a high share of first washes, as they are used only for a short time and tend to wear out quickly due to low quality. For the sake of the environment and to bridge societal inequities, Anshu Gupta of the NGO Goonj said the focus should therefore be on re-use of textiles.

In February 2024, a tripartite memorandum of understanding was signed between the Textiles Committee (Ministry of Textiles), Government e Marketplace (Ministry of Commerce and Industry) and the Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (Department of Public Enterprises) for the promotion of upcycled products made from textile waste and scrap. As part of this, upcycled products are promoted in GeM outlet stores, and support will be given to those in the upcycling sector through advocacy and capacity building. Conserve India is also in talks with the Ministry of Textiles to reach out to more clusters to decentralise the textile waste management process, Ahuja said.

Fashion designers, social media influencers and the media have a key role to play in dictating audience tastes and promoting what is ‘fashionable’. The UNEP and UN Climate Change have put together a Sustainable Fashion Communication Playbook that guides brand managers, marketers, social media influencers and others on how to redirect fashion communication.

The points include how one can take action to counter misinformation and greenwashing, reduce messages perpetuating overconsumption, redirect aspirations towards a sustainable lifestyle, and empower consumers to demand greater action from businesses and policymakers--all of which, it is argued, is the path towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

This report is republished with permission from IndiaSpend, a data-driven, public-interest journalism non-profit. It has been lightly edited for style and clarity.