India Generates Over 70 Lakh Tonnes Of Textile Waste Annually: Textile Ministry Report

New Delhi, Mar 11 (KNN) Union Minister of Textiles Giriraj Singh on Tuesday released a report titled ‘Mapping of Textile Waste Value Chain in India’ at Udyog Bhawan in New Delhi, highlighting the scale of textile waste generation and opportunities to strengthen circularity in the sector.
 
The report, released by the Ministry of Textiles, provides a comprehensive assessment of textile waste generation, recovery pathways, recycling technologies and policy measures required to promote sustainable resource use across India’s textile value chain.
 
Speaking on the occasion, the minister said India’s textile sector, one of the largest in the world, has significant potential to lead the global transition towards sustainable and circular production systems.
 
He noted that the report offers a data-driven framework for converting textile waste into an economic resource, while outlining practical pathways for recycling, upcycling and improved resource recovery.
 
Textile Waste Generation and Recovery
 
According to the report, India generates around 70.73 lakh tonnes of textile waste annually. Of this, 42 percent originates from pre-consumer sources, such as manufacturing waste, while 58 percent comes from post-consumer disposal.
 
The study found that over 70 percent of textile waste is currently recovered and routed into recycling, reuse, upcycling or downcycling streams. Notably, about 95 percent of pre-consumer textile waste is recovered, reflecting well-established recovery networks within the manufacturing value chain.
 
The report also notes that the spinning sector has achieved near closed-loop operations, with almost 100 percent of spinning waste reintegrated into production processes.
 
Informal Networks and Recycling Clusters
 
The findings highlight that nearly 55 percent of post-consumer textile waste is diverted from landfills, largely through an extensive informal collection and sorting ecosystem.
 
This network is estimated to support 40- 45 lakh livelihoods, primarily involving women from marginalised communities engaged in the collection, sorting and redistribution of used textiles.
 
The report also identifies Panipat as a major hub for mechanical textile recycling, with waste from several textile clusters transported to the city for processing. It suggests that developing recycling infrastructure within major textile clusters could improve efficiency and enable recycling closer to the source of waste generation.
 
Market Potential and Future Outlook
 
The study projects that India’s textile recycling market could reach USD 3.5 billion by 2030, with the potential to create around one lakh green jobs.
 
While mechanical recycling remains the dominant technology, the report notes that chemical recycling solutions are gaining traction, particularly for recovering fibres at the molecular level and enabling textile-to-textile recycling.
 
The ministry said the report’s findings will help guide policy formulation, industry collaboration and investments aimed at promoting sustainable manufacturing and strengthening India’s position as a global hub for circular and sustainable textiles.
 
(KNN Bureau)