Business

Indian Textile Sector Needs To Switch To Circular Model

Indian textile sector needs to move towards a circular business model by increasing its use of recycled fibres, according to a freshly published report by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) which is currently exploring economic factors that facilitate fibre to fibre recycling. The process will help turn used and discarded fabrics into new clothes. According to the estimate presented in their report, around GBP 140 million worth clothing is sent to landfill annually. Cheaply made and cheaply sold garments every season is the major contributing factor to this feature stated the WRAP report. UK alone has witnessed a sharp growth in clothing bought since 2012, around the time WRAP put into action its Sustainable Clothing Action Plan to reduce carbon and waste water footprint of clothing by 15% by 2020. Peter Maddox, director of WRAP observed that only housing, transport and food contribute to a greater environmental impact than clothing. The environmental impact of clothing is compounded by the extraction of new resources for clothing. The highlights featured in the report mention that cotton and polyester are the two materials with maximum scope for fibre to fibre recycling. These two materials feature as the most commonly used for clothing and home textiles.