Transforming India's Textile Waste into Circular Value: A New Opportunity

Fashion Value Chain

24-05-2025

By Ram Ramprasad
Summary:
India is both a generator and importer of massive volumes of textile waste. While cities like Panipat recycle a portion of this waste into low-value goods, most of it ends up downcycled or landfilled. Emerging global technologies now make it possible to convert this waste into premium fibers for new garments. This essay explores the potential for India to lead in textile circularity by adopting these innovations and building a future-ready ecosystem.
India's Textile Waste Problem—Domestic and Imported
India generates approximately 7.8 million tonnes of textile waste annually—accounting for around 8.5% of global waste (1). This includes pre-consumer waste from cutting and production, and post-consumer waste from discarded garments. India also imports over $380 million worth of waste textiles annually, largely in the form of worn clothing and rags, sourced from countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam, and likely the United States (2).
In cities like Panipat, imported and local waste is shredded and re-spun into coarse yarn for products such as blankets, carpets, and mop heads. These are either sold domestically or exported to developing markets. While this supports livelihoods, much of the ecosystem operates informally, offers minimal value addition, and contributes little to true circularity.
About 59% of India's textile waste is reused or recycled in some form, but typically into low-value products with short lifespans. The remaining 41% is incinerated, landfilled, or left unmanaged—causing environmental harm and squandering valuable material (1).
Circular Technology Breakthroughs
Several international companies have developed breakthrough technologies to turn old garments into high-quality fiber, enabling circular manufacturing:
Infinited Fiber Company (Finland): Converts cellulose-rich textile waste (like cotton, viscose, and denim) into a regenerated fiber called Infinna™. The process involves breaking down textiles into a liquid pulp, purifying it, and regenerating it into a cotton-like biodegradable fiber already used by brands like Zara and H&M (3).
Converts cellulose-rich textile waste (like cotton, viscose, and denim) into a regenerated fiber called Infinna™. The process involves breaking down textiles into a liquid pulp, purifying it, and regenerating it into a cotton-like biodegradable fiber already used by brands like Zara and H&M (3). Circ (USA): Uses hydrothermal technology to separate and recover polyester and cotton from blended fabrics—enabling raw material recovery for new textiles (4).
Uses hydrothermal technology to separate and recover polyester and cotton from blended fabrics—enabling raw material recovery for new textiles (4). Evrnu (USA): Produces NuCycl™ fiber by extracting usable molecules from old garments and regenerating them into new fibers with customizable properties (5).
Produces NuCycl™ fiber by extracting usable molecules from old garments and regenerating them into new fibers with customizable properties (5). Pure Waste (Finland): Specializes in creating 100% recycled yarns and garments from pre-consumer waste, minimizing water and energy use (6).
Specializes in creating 100% recycled yarns and garments from pre-consumer waste, minimizing water and energy use (6). Recover™ (Spain): Combines post-industrial and post-consumer waste to produce new high-performance recycled cotton fibers used in global fashion supply chains (7).
The Role of Advanced Cleaning Technologies
Before garments are recycled, they often require washing to remove dirt, oil, and dyes. U.S.-based Tersus Solutions uses liquid CO₂ technology to clean textiles without water, offering a more sustainable pre-processing step. This system is used by Patagonia, a U.S. outdoor clothing brand known for pioneering environmental and ethical standards, especially through its Worn Wear program which refurbishes and resells used garments (8). Such technologies could be deployed in India to improve quality and hygiene in textile recovery operations.
Building a Circular Textile Ecosystem in India
India has a unique opportunity to move from low-value recycling to high-value regeneration. By investing in local production of next-gen fibers—through licensing, joint ventures, or indigenous innovation—India can:
Reduce dependency on virgin fiber like cotton or polyester.
Create green jobs in fiber production, logistics, and R&D.
Attract global sustainable fashion brands to source from India.
Tackle mounting waste through environmentally sound practices.
A public-private partnership model—bringing together textile associations, startups, urban local bodies, and technology providers—can turn this vision into reality. Startups in India stand to benefit from a multi-billion-dollar opportunity in circular fashion, especially as global fashion houses seek sustainable suppliers.