ReCircle, a clean-tech resource recovery company based in Mumbai, has launched “Project Extra Life” to tackle textile scrap accumulation in India and build a more sustainable model.
The company says the global textile industry is responsible for approximately 92 million tons of scrap annually, and in India, textiles significantly contribute to industrial water pollution. With Project Extra Life, ReCircle says it has established a circular textile scrap management vertical as an addition to its existing waste management services and aims to collect, sort and sell at least 570 metric tons of textile scrap over the next year. The company aims to reach institutions and individuals including fashion houses; textile businesses; hospitality companies; educational institutions; brands; offices factories; households; and existing clients within its corporate program.
Since launching the program in April, ReCircle says it has worked with businesses to recover textile scrap and organized Mumbai-based textile scrap collection drives for consumer participation. Whether it is a large manufacturer or a small business, the company offers tailored solutions to handle textile scrap efficiently.
ReCircle says it offers nationwide participation options and custom plans for bulk contributions in cases where businesses have more than 10 tons of textile scrap. The material can be delivered directly to ReCircle’s material recovery facility (MRF) in Mumbai. Additionally, ReCircle also proposes enabling institutions to set up textile scrap collection drives, and encourages fashion houses and textile businesses to contact ReCircle to manage their production scrap and set up takeback programs for customers. Project Extra Life will concentrate mainly on postconsumer textiles in the coming months.
“Consumers and brands need confidence through traceability and accountability, tracking the life cycle of donated clothes, and ensuring they are responsibly recycled and not diverted to landfills,” ReCircle co-founder and CEO Rahul Nainani says. “Project Extra Life is an attempt to do just that by building value potential of textile waste, creating a transparent, technology-driven value chain, all while focusing on capacity building for waste workers and enabling a more circular textile waste value chain.”
ReCircle says it aims to collect materials such as cotton, wool, polyester, acrylic, synthetic fibers, nylon, denim, silk and more. After the material is collected, it is sent to the company’s MRF in Dahisar, Mumbai, where it is assessed on reusability by the company’s Safai Saathis, or waste workers. Collected material deemed beyond repair is sent to ReCircle’s recycling partners in Surat and Panipat where it is baled, shredded and turned into recycled yarn.
Garments start their Extra Life process in one of four ReCircle channels, including:
- Rewear, which is material that can be worn again;
- Revamp, which is material that needs a few repairs;
- Recycle, which describes items nearing end-of-life; and
- Relife, which is unusable material converted into energy.
“With our optimized textile reverse logistics, we offer a solution to the existing long-drawn and expensive process by leveraging data which adds an advantage and provides better supply chain visibility to businesses, leading to benefits such as cost and waste reduction, as well as improved brand sentiment,” ReCircle co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Gurashish Singh Sahni says. “We are positive that we can empower various stakeholders to participate in the formalization and mainstreaming of the textile waste value chain and eventually create a closed-loop textile industry.”
Project Extra Life intends to build value potential for textile scrap; create a traceable and transparent value chain; leverage technological interventions for material segregation and sorting; improve inefficiencies of scrap handlers through capacity building; and foster an enabling environment to pave the way for a more sustainable and efficient textile scrap value chain. ReCircle says it aims to integrate micro-entrepreneurship and create 80-100 indirect jobs with the launch of the new textile scrap vertical.
Courtesy : Recyclingtoday.com