Nearly 92 million tonnes of textile waste is generated every year worldwide.
According to the UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme), this is equivalent to a truckload of clothing being incinerated or sent to landfills every second. The production and consumption of textiles is enormous which causes severe environmental degradation and economic fallout, particularly in the developing nations. The fashion and textiles sector accounts for 2–8 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and 9 per cent of microplastic pollution.
The textile production requires heavy use of water consuming nearly 215 trillion litres of water globally. An estimated 15,000 chemicals are used in the textile manufacturing process, and some of these substances accumulate in the environment for decades, according to UNEP. The UNEP has been stressing on a Zero Waste approach for tackling the waste pollution crisis. The UNEP observes the International Day of Zero Waste on March 30, along with the UN Human Settlements Programme to highlight the importance of improving waste management globally and the need to promote sustainable consumption and production patterns to address the waste pollution crisis.
This year the theme is “Towards zero waste in fashion and textiles” focussing on the urgent need to take action to reduce the waste impact from the fashion and textile sector. “The fashion and textile sector is fuelling mass overconsumption and waste pollution. And as the industry continues to rapidly grow, so will its environmental impact, unless a shift towards circularity and sustainable production and consumption is taken by all actors,” says Jacqueline Alvarez, the Chief of UNEP’s Chemicals and Health Branch. “The International Day of Zero Waste 2025 will promote a more circular sector and the recognition of textile waste as a valuable resource.”
By reducing textiles waste, we can conserve natural resources and reduce the environmental impact of textile production, including the use of water, energy, chemicals and other inputs. In India most of the textile waste generated is sent to the major recycling hubs like Panipat and Tirupur, besides Amroha and parts of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Gujarat. The states of Gujarat, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are the largest textile producers of India, producing nearly half the textiles and apparels in the country According to a study India produces nearly 8.5 percent of the global textile waste. Nearly 60 per cent of textile waste in the country is recycled or reused but rest goes to the global supply chain.
Large part of domestic waste is dumped in landfills. Most of the textile waste is from cotton clothes even though now polyester waste is also becoming a major concern.
Interestingly, India imports a lot of textile waste in terms of discarded clothing and textile materials from developed countries which are reused, recycled, or downcycled within Indian textile industry. These materials are considered waste in its originating country but can still recycled and utilized in India. India is one of the largest textile and apparel sourcing regions in the world due to abundant availability of raw materials and skilled workforce.
The industry contributes 2 percent of the total GDP of India and 12 percent of its exports employing millions of people. India is the largest producer of cotton, jute and silk. Over 25% of the global cotton production comes from India. Waste is generated during cutting and making of apparels and from the fabric mills and spinning. There is need to popularise the fast-growing trend of circular economy that fully uses textile creating minimum waste which is further recycled within the industry leading to minimum of wastage and pollution. Nearly 60 per cent of textile waste in India comes back for reuse by the industry but the quality of final product is such that it finds little place in the global supply chain.
Some of the textile waste is so bad that there is no other use of it then being incinerated or sent to a landfill (17 per cent. To enable circular economy approach stressed by UNEP, high-grade mechanical and chemical recycling technologies that recycle cotton and polyester blends have to be implemented.