India
India
Sorting for Circularity India
Textile Waste Quantities
Textile Waste
Textile Waste
Textile Waste
consumer textiles
The project involved collaboration between Fashion For Good (FFG), Sattva Consulting, Saahas Zero Waste (SZW), and Reverse Resources (RR) to assess textile waste streams in India. The study was undertaken keeping the three waste streams - pre-consumer, imported and domestic post-consumer in mind.
FFG served as a facilitator and communicator across stakeholders, while also contributing to project outputs. Sattva Consulting focused on pre-consumer and imported waste streams, conducting over 120 stakeholder interviews nationwide and analyzing UN Comtrade data for imported waste. Saahas Zero Waste led the domestic post-consumer waste stream research, combining desk research, consumer surveys, and garment analysis from Bangalore and Delhi. Reverse Resources analyzed pre-consumer textile waste using primary factory data and industry expertise, complemented by UN Comtrade data for broader industry insights.
Overall, the methodology integrated primary research (interviews, surveys, site visits), secondary research (literature, databases), and data modeling to comprehensively assess textile waste across different streams and stages. The study involved surveys of 157 textile and apparel manufacturers, interviews with 170 value chain stakeholders, surveys of approximately 522 tailors and boutiques in Bangalore and Delhi, analysis of around 8,000 garments from a collection drive, and 570 customer surveys.
Ongoing work by Fashion for Good under the Re-START Alliance to develop post-consumer textile waste ecosystem.
Indian textile waste falls under 3 waste streams - domestic post-consumer waste (51%), pre-consumer waste (42%), and imported post-consumer waste (7%). Despite a strong tradition of reusing and remaking, less than half of the textile waste undergoes reuse or high-grade recycling, limiting its integration into the global supply chain. Besides these channels, textile waste in India is downcycled (19%), incinerated (5%), or landfilled (17%). Cotton and cotton blends constitute 61% of the waste, with synthetic blends, mainly polyester, making up about 19%, with a growing trend towards synthetic materials. Challenges in the textile waste sector include inadequate infrastructure, limited technology, and traceability issues.
