Over a million tonnes of fabric waste end up in Indian landfills each year -- 8.5% of the global total. Two Indian initiatives are finding ways to repurpose waste material and create jobs, too. But scaling up upcycling, for instance, is difficult.
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00:00 Right now, there are enough garments to dress the next six generations of humans.
00:07 Why do we need so much garments?
00:09 For our own pleasure?
00:12 This is becoming a little bit ridiculous.
00:14 Every year, India generates some 8.5% of the world's textile waste, of which over a million
00:21 metric tons end up in landfills.
00:24 It is a significant amount, but there is actually something we can do about this.
00:29 So if you're going to look at fabric waste, it has a lot of potential.
00:32 And it not only is, you know, potential in terms of revenue, but also a lot of employment
00:37 opportunities.
00:38 Two Jinnah initiatives are tapping into this potential, UpCycly and Oase Craft are upcycling
00:44 the city's fabric waste, one piece at a time.
00:49 You just need a little bit of skill and a little bit of imagination, and you can make
00:55 something beautiful, which is reusable, upcycled, as well as good for the planet.
01:01 Textile waste can be generated at any point during the manufacturing process, or when
01:06 clothing or home furnishings are sorted out and thrown away.
01:10 UpCycly's approach to dealing with fabric waste is to keep it local.
01:17 Because we didn't want to move around waste from one area to another.
01:21 And also we wanted to provide employment opportunities at that particular place itself.
01:27 UpCycly mostly makes backpacks and bags.
01:29 Namruta Ramanatham mainly gets her fabric scraps from local tailoring units.
01:34 It's still incredibly popular in India, despite rapid growth of fast fashion.
01:41 Because most tailors don't have anyone coming and taking the waste from them on a regular
01:48 basis.
01:49 So most of it goes into municipal solid waste and maybe to the landfill.
01:53 Unlike UpCycly, the team at OOscrap also accepts textile waste such as old clothing and home
01:58 furnishings.
01:59 I need to look at the garment, and based on the condition, I have several solutions.
02:05 I either donate the garment, upcycle the garment, recycle the garment, or thrift the garment.
02:12 UpCycly and OOscrap each have close to a dozen seamstresses who work with them to create
02:17 these products.
02:19 So it's improving their earnings too.
02:22 The initiatives have each given new life to over four tons of fabric waste over about
02:27 four years.
02:29 Upcycling is an effective solution, but it is one that's difficult to scale, believe
02:33 experts.
02:34 But there are some ideas to make the products more attractive to consumers.
02:40 One is price parity.
02:41 It should be equal to or less than what is available today in the market.
02:46 The performance parity, the design, aesthetics, the functionality of the product.
02:54 The third is what I call ease of access or ease of use and so on.
02:59 For example, if it is only available from one website, then it is not as scalable a
03:05 solution.
03:07 These three parameters could provide a sustainable basis for the UpCycle product market.
03:12 And under the extended producer responsibility guidelines, many fashion brands in Europe,
03:18 for example, are meant to take responsibility for their products over their entire life
03:22 cycle, including recycling and disposal.
03:26 The Indian government is now planning to implement these guidelines in the Indian textile industry
03:32 soon.
03:33 But we consumers can also do our bit.
03:36 Fashion definitely is one of the biggest polluters of the world, but we can start with just our
03:41 own home.
03:42 Initiatives like UpCycle and O-Scrap provide important opportunities to convert textile
03:48 waste into UpCycled products, addressing environmental concerns and boosting the local economy by
03:55 creating work.
03:56 [MUSIC PLAYING]