<p>Bengaluru: Bengaluru, the “garment capital” of India, is facing a severe and largely unmanaged textile waste crisis, with the city generating an estimated 5,000 tonnes of fabric waste annually.</p>.<p>A new study by the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC) reveals that Bengaluru is struggling to cope with the sheer volume of discarded clothes and fabric scraps, highlighting an urgent need to shift towards a circular economy. The findings were presented at a recent workshop attended by industry leaders, policymakers, and academics.</p>.<p>One of the most significant hurdles identified by researchers S Manasi, Channamma Kambara, and Mrinalini Goswami is the lack of a unified database for textile waste. Different government agencies such as the Department of Handlooms and Textiles (DHT) and the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) maintain fragmented records, but their focus is on regulatory compliance, not waste management. This disconnect creates a “missing link” in governance, leaving a large portion of the problem unaddressed. </p>.Child left behind on Bengaluru Metro's Purple Line, reunited later.<p>The study found that while large export-oriented factories manage their waste more effectively, smaller local units and thousands of tailoring shops dump most of their waste into the regular trash.</p>.<p><strong>Wasteful practices </strong></p>.<p>The ISEC report also sheds light on what happens to the waste that is collected. About 40% of Bengaluru’s textile waste is sent to Tiruppur and Panipat for recycling. Another 20% is downcycled locally into products like mattresses and dolls. However, these items have a short lifespan of 8-10 years, after which they are often burned or end up in landfills, contributing to pollution. A particularly alarming finding is the unsegregated mixing of hazardous industrial cotton waste with regular trash. The study points out the high environmental cost of this linear model, noting that over 75% of waste is burnt, releasing toxic emissions.</p>.<p>This informal sector, largely comprising women, handles the arduous work of sorting and managing this waste. Yet, these workers often operate in unsafe conditions, lacking basic facilities, safety gear, and social support.</p>.<p>Cut-off box - Roadmap for circularity in waste management The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) stressed the urgency of addressing this issue. With Bengaluru generating roughly 6000 tonnes of waste daily much of it unsegregated the need to integrate textile waste into existing municipal systems is foremost. n Structured collection systems: Implementing source segregation and formal systems for collecting textile waste. n Technological investment: Investing in sorting and recycling facilities including AI-based systems. n Policy and regulation: Developing a dedicated national textile waste management policy and implementing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) frameworks to hold manufacturers accountable. n Data harmonisation: Creating a reliable harmonised database to inform effective policymaking.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: Bengaluru, the “garment capital” of India, is facing a severe and largely unmanaged textile waste crisis, with the city generating an estimated 5,000 tonnes of fabric waste annually.</p>.<p>A new study by the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC) reveals that Bengaluru is struggling to cope with the sheer volume of discarded clothes and fabric scraps, highlighting an urgent need to shift towards a circular economy. The findings were presented at a recent workshop attended by industry leaders, policymakers, and academics.</p>.<p>One of the most significant hurdles identified by researchers S Manasi, Channamma Kambara, and Mrinalini Goswami is the lack of a unified database for textile waste. Different government agencies such as the Department of Handlooms and Textiles (DHT) and the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) maintain fragmented records, but their focus is on regulatory compliance, not waste management. This disconnect creates a “missing link” in governance, leaving a large portion of the problem unaddressed. </p>.Child left behind on Bengaluru Metro's Purple Line, reunited later.<p>The study found that while large export-oriented factories manage their waste more effectively, smaller local units and thousands of tailoring shops dump most of their waste into the regular trash.</p>.<p><strong>Wasteful practices </strong></p>.<p>The ISEC report also sheds light on what happens to the waste that is collected. About 40% of Bengaluru’s textile waste is sent to Tiruppur and Panipat for recycling. Another 20% is downcycled locally into products like mattresses and dolls. However, these items have a short lifespan of 8-10 years, after which they are often burned or end up in landfills, contributing to pollution. A particularly alarming finding is the unsegregated mixing of hazardous industrial cotton waste with regular trash. The study points out the high environmental cost of this linear model, noting that over 75% of waste is burnt, releasing toxic emissions.</p>.<p>This informal sector, largely comprising women, handles the arduous work of sorting and managing this waste. Yet, these workers often operate in unsafe conditions, lacking basic facilities, safety gear, and social support.</p>.<p>Cut-off box - Roadmap for circularity in waste management The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) stressed the urgency of addressing this issue. With Bengaluru generating roughly 6000 tonnes of waste daily much of it unsegregated the need to integrate textile waste into existing municipal systems is foremost. n Structured collection systems: Implementing source segregation and formal systems for collecting textile waste. n Technological investment: Investing in sorting and recycling facilities including AI-based systems. n Policy and regulation: Developing a dedicated national textile waste management policy and implementing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) frameworks to hold manufacturers accountable. n Data harmonisation: Creating a reliable harmonised database to inform effective policymaking.</p>