India's Textile Waste Needs Urgent Attention - Expert Astha Khubele Tells Us Why

From neons and cow prints to tiny purses and quirky (read: soon-to-be-cringy) t-shirt quotes, we live in the era of ‘microtrends,’ where fashion fads emerge overnight and turn into faux pas just as quickly. The result? An endless churn of garments flooding our closets—and eventually, landfills. According to a 2022 paper by Fashion for Good, approximately 7,800 kilotonnes of textile waste is accumulated in India annually, underscoring the urgent need for an intervention.

Astha Khubele, a textile design graduate and the Associate Lead of Circular Textiles at Saahas Zero Waste, is at the forefront of this battle. Based in Bengaluru, she is a social innovator passionate about curating solutions for the post-consumer burgeoning textile waste problem in India. 

What Shaped Astha’s Advocacy?

Astha is part of the Women Climate Collective 2024 cohort, a program dedicated to developing leadership in climate and gender equity. She shared with us her journey in textile design and waste management, highlighting some eye-opening insights into the fashion industry’s challenges. 

A native of Uttar Pradesh, Astha completed her education at the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Hyderabad. She worked at some fashion houses in Delhi, where she learnt some striking realities about the industry, shaping her determination to address the textile waste issue.

“I realised a lot of things which are happening in the background; there's a lot of wastage, overproduction, and overconsumption, which made me realise what happens behind the glamourous centre stage at fashion weeks.”

Astha decided to take a step back and reflect on these issues. She then pursued her Master of Design from NIFT, Bengaluru, focusing on craft, sustainability and system-level design. Around 2019, she was looking for an organisation where she could do her thesis and stumbled upon Saahas.

Her research, supported by Saahas’ founder Wilma Rodrigues, involved plenty of groundwork, collaboration with Self Help Groups, working with brands, etc. to manage textile waste at the system level. Her efforts have culminated in a robust initiative at the organisation’s textile recovery facility.

What Exactly Is Textile Waste?

In a time when overconsumption has been normalised and fashion trends shift at breakneck speed, the life span of garments has significantly depleted. “The older generation kept textiles alive for so long. They had garments for at least four to five years but now, the life span is slowly reducing,” Astha said.

“In today's production, there are a lot of issues in the quality of raw material used. A lot of fast fashion brands use the cheapest possible material available to lower the cost of production. Trends like this make the garment even more susceptible to early disposal. There are still people who hold on to textile for a long time but we are observing a lot of difference in disposal patterns over the years.”

Challenges Of Labourers In Waste Management

Many of us dispose of waste without thinking about the next step it goes through before reaching the landfill. A complex network of collection, segregation, and processing systems plays a crucial role, relying heavily on the efforts of manual labourers. The security of these informal workers is often overlooked.

Astha said, “People don't think when they dispose. There's a possibility that someone has a garment with bed bugs or may be contaminated. Many times, we have received syringes or blades in the fabric; These have so many implications on the health of the workers who are trying to salvage any textile waste and make value out of it.”

These challenges are more pronounced for women in waste-management work, who also deal with social biases and domestic responsibilities. "I have seen that women struggle to raise their kids because they are living in waste worker colonies, they don't have access to water, health benefits, sanitation, etc."

Astha also shared how the changing quality of the fabric is affecting lives. "In some cities, they have bartanwalis, who trade utensils for garments. Whenever they get sarees with heavy work, they sell them to make some money. But now with the quality of clothes going down, they are not able to get value out of it."  

How Is Textile Waste Handled?

Astha noted that while textile waste is somewhat managed at production levels, post-consumer waste remains a mounting issue. “Most of the material at our facility is mixed because there's no awareness that you must keep it separately. It shouldn't be mixed with wet waste or dry waste,” she shared.

Astha’s team looks to tweak existing systems and holistically approach the problem. They work with resident associations, tech parks, and educational institutions where they not only receive volumes of textile waste but also build awareness among people about reusing and reusing fabric, segregating waste, etc. 

At Saahas, once the textile waste is segregated, the garments are either sold second-hand or converted into threads to be resold. Additionally, they also work with several women's groups in Karnataka who are trained in upcycling textile discards into products that can be re-sold in the market.

They also host thrift events and 'swap parties' where people can exchange textile discards for garments. "While one part of social media is influenced by overconsumption, there is also a growing movement of thrifting. It is still growing in India but many people are now doing it. It can be very affordable and trendy."

How To Extend The Life Of Textile?

Astha shared some ways in which people can be more responsible consumers and contribute to reducing textile waste. While many brands are notorious for 'greenwashing' -- falsely claiming to be sustainable -- she highlighted some ways in which shoppers can identify authentic, good-quality clothing. 

• "Read the label. Mono-material clothing needs to be promoted more than blends. 100% cotton is the best as it gets recycled. 100% polyester, though takes very long to degrade, lasts longer. So it is important to know the composition of your garments."
• "Check where the garment was manufactured -- whether it is India, Bangladesh, or anywhere else. These are some ways we can be more conscious."

Women Climate Collective

Astha's team at Saahas encouraged her to apply for the Women Climate Collective 2024 cohort, which has given her much-needed appreciation for her work. "I finally [got] the recognition that 'Yes, you're doing something for the community and creating a livelihood powerhouse.' WCC helped me with that confidence."

She expressed, "Getting inspired by different people working in climate action also acts like an energy drink. You don't realize who people there are and what type of challenges they are facing but WCC connected me to a lot of people and the right opportunities to just voice out the work that we are doing."