India's next big shift needs to be responsible consumption

Hindustan Times

5 hours ago

There is growing recognition that the way we consume must adapt to a more resource conscious world. Behind every product lies a chain of material extraction, energy use and environmental impact that often goes unseen. The Circularity Gap Report 2025 shows that global material use now exceeds 100 billion tonnes annually, with only 7.2% being cycled back into the economy. According to the UNEP Global Resources Outlook, the extraction of virgin materials has doubled since 2000, contributing to growing ecological stress. Climate crisis (Shutterstock)
In India, rapid urban and industrial expansion is increasing both material use and waste, now estimated at 62 million tonnes each year. Amid the progress, extreme weather events are putting added pressure on infrastructure and communities. India ranks seventh on the Global Climate Risk Index, underlining the need to build systems that use resources more efficiently and support resilient, inclusive growth.
India's long-standing culture of frugality offers a strong foundation. For generations, households have made thoughtful use of everyday items, repairing and reusing rather than replacing. Even today, practices like those followed by Mumbai's dabbawalas show how reuse can thrive at scale. This mindset continues to offer valuable lessons. As consumption habits evolve, there is an opportunity to position reduce, reuse and repair as modern, aspirational choices.
The transformation is already underway with circularity slowly entering the mainstream, driven by both digital platforms and grassroots movements. This includes consumer-facing circular services like rental platforms and repair marketplaces, business-led return cycles for batteries, textiles, and packaging materials, and startups making it easier for people to repair and resell electronic devices, reducing e-waste. Everyday practices like garment alteration and shoe repair continue thriving across metros and smaller towns, while community-led reuse efforts across Tier 1 and 2 cities are encouraging people to extend the life of everyday items, reinforcing the belief that sustainability starts at home.
India's sports retail sector, where early efforts range from buyback programmes and resale of refurbished gear to in-store repair services and hands-on maintenance workshops. Online services are also expanding, with bike servicing emerging as one of the most widely used offerings, alongside racket restringing, treadmill and fitness machine maintenance, and repair of cricket and football gear. These initiatives, introduced by leading sports brands, are helping reshape how consumers think about product ownership; encouraging them to maintain and extend the life of sports gear rather than replace it. At the same time, consumer interest in reuse and resale is also being driven by the practical benefits of affordability and access, particularly in a retail environment where formal refurbishing options remain limited. Workshops and buyback events are gaining traction, indicating a gradual but important shift toward circularity in the sports retail journey.
Circular consumption can unlock more household savings, lower emissions and waste for cities, and long-term business trust. But realising this potential requires coordinated action across multiple stakeholders. Businesses must go beyond isolated green initiatives and integrate circular thinking into product design, logistics, customer service, and retail formats. The corporate response is already evolving. Leading fashion and apparel retailers are stepping up with garment collection and recycling programmes, offering practical models for brand-led circular action. These efforts show circularity builds both revenue and customer loyalty, not just climate gains.
Widespread adoption requires enabling infrastructure and supportive policy frameworks. Policymakers can accelerate it by reducing GST on refurbished and repaired goods, supporting repair infrastructure, and embedding circular economy goals into national programmes like Mission LiFE, making sustainable choices more economically attractive while advancing India's environmental agenda.
Such efforts also align with Make in India and Right to Repair initiatives, which aim to create local jobs and strengthen service-based livelihoods. Strengthening the Right to Repair initiative to include excluded categories like sports equipment would unlock access for millions of users eager to maintain their gear.
To be effective, circularity must work across brands and sectors. This includes enabling service providers to repair products regardless of origin, expanding consumer choice and supporting local repair economies. Improving repair logistics beyond metros is especially important to make circular services as convenient and trusted as buying new. This opens opportunities for startups, logistics providers and digital platforms to develop integrated service models.
Technology is already playing a key role. Platforms that connect consumers with repair services, peer-to-peer resale options and digital marketplaces for refurbished goods are helping make circular choices more seamless. Emerging technologies like AI are also beginning to contribute. A 2024 KPMG report shows that 73% of consumer and retail companies have realised value from active AI use cases, particularly in areas such as operational efficiency, product innovation and ESG delivery.
As India's economy grows and its spending power increases, we have the chance to build circular thinking into our consumption patterns from the ground up. Rather than following the linear consumption path that has contributed to global environmental challenges, India can pioneer a more sustainable approach that balances growth with resource stewardship. The circular economy represents a $4.5 trillion opportunity globally; India is well-positioned to capture a significant share of this value.
The manufacturing sector can benefit from circular design principles that reduce material costs, create new revenue streams from service and repair, build stronger customer relationships, and unlock competitive advantages in a resource-constrained future.
Embedding circularity into daily life requires commitment from all stakeholders, consumers choosing services such as repair, second-hand and rental instead of always buying new. Businesses must adopt circular models, and policymakers must create enabling frameworks to make sustainability a shared, lasting habit. The way ahead will be shaped by our collective will to rethink consumption and rebuild our relationship with the material world.
This article is authored by Annie George, sustainable development leader, Decathlon India.