India Generates 70 Lakh Tonnes of Textile Waste Yearly: New Report

According to the report, India generates approximately 70.73 lakh tonnes of textile waste annually, reflecting the rapid expansion of one of the world’s largest textile industries.

Union Minister of Textiles Giriraj Singh on Tuesday released the report “Mapping of Textile Waste Value Chain in India” in New Delhi, outlining the scale of textile waste generation and identifying pathways to build a circular and sustainable textile economy in the country.

Released at Udyog Bhawan, the report provides a detailed assessment of textile waste generation, recovery systems, recycling technologies and policy opportunities to strengthen sustainability across India’s textile sector.

India’s Textile Waste Landscape

According to the report, India generates approximately 70.73 lakh tonnes of textile waste annually, reflecting the rapid expansion of one of the world’s largest textile industries.

The study reveals that:

• 42% of textile waste comes from pre-consumer sources such as manufacturing and production waste.

• 58% originates from post-consumer waste, largely from discarded clothing and textiles.

Encouragingly, over 70% of the total textile waste generated in India is currently recovered and directed towards recycling, reuse, upcycling or downcycling streams.

Strong Recovery Systems in Manufacturing

The report highlights that nearly 95% of pre-consumer textile waste is recovered, demonstrating strong recovery networks across the manufacturing value chain.

The spinning sector, in particular, has emerged as a benchmark for circular production, with almost 100% of spinning waste reintegrated back into production.

This efficiency is largely due to:

• Homogeneous waste streams

• Proximity between production and recycling processes

• Established standards for recycled fibre inputs.

Informal Sector Plays Major Role

The report underscores the significant role of India’s informal recycling ecosystem, which diverts around 55% of post-consumer textile waste away from landfills.

This system sustains 40–45 lakh livelihoods, with many workers—particularly women from marginalised communities—engaged in the collection, sorting and redistribution of used textiles.

Recycling Hubs Emerging Across India

Cluster analysis identifies Panipat in Haryana as a major hub for mechanical textile recycling, where waste from multiple textile clusters is transported for processing.

The report suggests that developing recycling infrastructure within textile clusters could:

• Improve operational efficiency

• Reduce logistics costs

• Enable recycling closer to waste generation sources.

Recycling Market Set for Major Growth

The study projects that India’s textile recycling market could reach USD 3.5 billion by 2030, creating around one lakh new green jobs in recycling and circular manufacturing.

Currently, mechanical recycling is the most widely used method in the industry. However, chemical recycling technologies are gaining attention for their ability to recover fibres at the molecular level, enabling true textile-to-textile recycling.

Towards a Circular Textile Economy

Union Minister Giriraj Singh said India’s textile sector has the potential to become a global leader in sustainable and circular production systems.

He noted that the report offers a data-driven roadmap for converting textile waste into a valuable economic resource, highlighting opportunities in recycling, upcycling and resource recovery.

The Ministry of Textiles said the findings will support future policy decisions, industry collaboration and investments aimed at strengthening India’s position as a global hub for sustainable textiles.

The full report is available on the Ministry of Textiles website (texmin.gov.in).