Consumerism in India has taken a big leap over the last few decades with a growing shift towards fast fashion. The Indian fast fashion business will reach a sizeable market value of USD 50 billion by FY31, according to a report by Redseer Strategy Consultants. However, India’s fast fashion frenzy is fuelling a textile waste crisis. Fashion for Good reports that the country generates nearly 7,800 kilo tonnes of waste annually, which is either dumped in landfills or incinerated. All three waste streams — pre-consumer, post-consumer, and imported — contribute to the total textile waste of the country. Policies such as the Solid Waste Management Rules (2016) aim to tackle solid waste but leave a glaring gap in handling discarded textiles, with little motivation for businesses to embrace sustainable practices or invest in cutting-edge recycling solutions.
Inadequate guidelines and policies, skill gaps, and a fragmented value chain contribute to the mismanagement of textile and apparel waste. Further, the unorganised nature of the textile value chain makes it difficult to ensure traceability and transparency. As the waste typically ends up in landfills or gets incinerated, hazardous chemicals like phthalates, heavy metals, and flame retardants are released into the environment, destroying flora and fauna and adversely impacting the environment and human health.
