India could unlock approximately $9.4 billion (about Rs 78,500 crore) in value from its textile waste each year by enhancing collection, sorting, and recycling systems, as per a recent report. The report, a collaboration between FICCI and the Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy Industry Coalition (RECEIC), highlighted that India produces roughly 7.25 million tonnes of textile waste annually, with a significant portion remaining underutilized due to inefficient collection, sorting, and recycling processes.
Around $9.4 billion worth of value is currently untapped, primarily due to inefficiencies in the collection, sorting, and recycling stages. Notably, 85% of this unrealized value is in reuse pathways, which are currently underdeveloped, the report emphasized.
To seize this opportunity, the FICCI–RECEIC report suggests implementing a national Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework for textiles, investing in collection and sorting infrastructure, establishing standardized grading and traceability systems, integrating informal sector workers, and expanding recycling capabilities.
Post-consumer textile waste management systems in India are highly fragmented, with nearly 45% of waste not entering recovery channels but ending up in landfills or being incinerated. The report identified sorting as a critical bottleneck in the textile waste ecosystem, highlighting that over 95% of sorting in India is manual, with limited technological adoption and the absence of a standardized grading system.
Policy and infrastructure deficiencies were also noted in the report, including the lack of a dedicated EPR framework for textiles, poor source segregation practices, and insufficient traceability mechanisms. In terms of recycling, India predominantly relies on mechanical processes, with limited chemical recycling capacity, which hampers the handling of blended fabrics and the scaling of circularity.
The report stressed that while circular materials can significantly boost supply chain resilience and reduce reliance on virgin resources, achieving this goal will necessitate coordinated efforts across policy, industry, and infrastructure sectors.
