PROJECT INDIA - Reverse Resources

Pioneering a circular future: Scaling up India’s textile-to-textile recycling industry

The IDH project represents a collective endeavour aimed at tackling the issue of textile waste within India’s fashion and textile sector, fostering a systematic collaboration among various stakeholders to scale up textile-to-textile recycling and create a win-win scenario across the entire supply chain.

Current challenges in India's textile-to-textile industry

Despite India’s active textile recycling industry, there is tremendous untapped market potential to scale up recycling initiatives and improve the quality and commercial viability of the country’s textile-to-textile recycled products. In India, a significant portion of high quality waste is still flowing into low-value use cases.

According to the “Wealth in Waste” report, approximately 8.5% of global textile waste is accumulated in India every year. 59% of this waste finds its way back into the textile industry through reuse and recycling. However, only a fraction of the 59% gets valorised into apparel use-cases.

Yet, there are numerous high-end recyclers seeking feedstock who could recycle this textile waste into high quality recycled products.

A further major challenging obstacles in scaling transparent T2T recycling is the informal waste handling sector. This sector is an essential component that links the supply of textile waste to recycling destinations. However, this is the section of the supply chain where the highest volume of textile waste leakage is observed. For the current linear supply chains to evolve to circular value cycles, a formalised and compliant waste handling sector is critically important.

The collaboration between IDH, Reverse Resources & Fashion For Good

The IDH-RR collaboration is specifically aimed at:

Scaling digital traceability in textile waste and textile recycling supply chains
Embedding social compliance in the textile waste handling sector in India

This collaboration seeks to accelerate RR efforts in India by working closely with global brands and their supply partners based in India. Furthermore, IDH, RR and Fashion For Good envision active engagement with the public sector through ongoing dialogues with the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India and relevant industry associations.

The goal of the project by 2025

520

Manufacturers

65

Recyclers & Waste Handlers

3500

Factory Workers

50,000 mt

Separated waste from source to recycling

Benefits for the stakeholders

The RR-IDH collaboration aims to create a win-win scenario for all stakeholders involved in the textile waste and recycling supply chain.

BRAND

Access a unique opportunity to work with RR and gain actionable insights into their textile waste streams at subsidised prices
Enable identification of recycling opportunities
Trace textile waste streams from source to high-quality recycling
Improve social compliance across the supply chain to meet internal and regulatory targets

MANUFACTURER

Enhance profitability through more efficient textile waste management practices
Trace textile waste to recycling, leading to higher HIGG scores
Streamline the reporting system for providing insights to all brand partners
Create new business opportunities

RECYCLER

Gain access to high-quality, fully traceable feedstock with low contamination and segregated at source
Secure feedstock at a stable price
Collaborate with brands and manufacturers to establish long-term relationship

WASTE HANDLER

Gain access to pre-segregated and labelled textile waste (e.g. composition)
Participate in transparent global supply chain
Receive guidance from RR on taking steps towards becoming more socially compliant

Project onboarding event

If you are a brand, recycler, manufacturer or waste handler, we invite you to be part of this journey. Join us at our next onboarding events, where we will delve into the collaboration, lay out the next steps and get everyone started on the project.

REGISTER YOUR INTEREST

Join our upcoming onboarding events in India!

Simply share your contact information, and we’ll keep you in the loop as soon as we have all the event details ready.

For more info:

Ranjit Sasi, RR’s Head of Business and Operations in India: ranjit@reverseresource.net