Can recycled rag fix fashion’s menace? – IKEA to devise a circular textile waste model
In order to tackle the most virulent problem of textile waste which ends up choking the landfills, IKEA Foundation has tied up with Enviu and Circular Apparel Innovation Factory (CAIF) to build a new circular textile waste model in India which will unlock green jobs for waste workers.
It is an undeniable fact that the textile and apparel industry produces huge amounts of waste and pollution which can be equated with the oil industry. The Indian apparel industry is not an exception when it comes to fueling up this global menace as it produces million tonnes deal of textile waste, leaving an estimated million informal waste workers trapped in low-income, unreliable jobs.
There is no shame in accepting that we lack the infrastructure to deal with textile waste, leaving an estimated 4 million informal waste workers trapped in low-income, unreliable jobs.
Hence in the wake of most of the most dreadful climate threats, the five-year project is being seed-funded by IKEA Foundation. Its objective is to create over 5000 green jobs while saving at least 20 million kilos of textiles waste from ending up in landfills by 2026 IKEA Foundation and CAIF is aimed to reduce the environmental impact of the clothing industry while enabling the workers to increase their income.
In the early phase of the project, Enviu and CAIF will seek partnerships with manufacturers, brands, and innovators to scale and replicate solutions to manage textiles waste; as well as NGO’s and other civil society actors to build skills and capacities amongst the waste workers in India.
According to Venkat Kotamaraju -Director, CAIF, “The scale and scope of the problems being addressed by the textiles and apparel industry globally demand an active investment into and setting u of ecosystem models and mechanisms that will make “circularity within reach” and “de-risks the participation” of the value chain stakeholders in a circular economy.”
Image from The Last Fashion Bible
