According to industry estimates, over one million tons of textiles are scrapped every year in India. The textile industry is one of the biggest contributors to municipal solid waste, causing environmental distress. However, there are untapped opportunities here that can bring about much-needed changes. In a world where post-consumer waste is overlooked in waste management and as a raw material, we are testing the development of felt sheets made from post-consumer Indian textile waste.
Felt is a type of material made by matting, condensing, and pressing textile fibers. We are using these materials to make felt panels, which, in turn, can be used for interior design purposes (like lighting, and wallpaper), as well as for carpeting and acoustic systems.
Our intention is to find solutions for Indian post-consumer textile waste that is currently ending up in landfills, while at the same time, providing livelihood to waste collectors and sorters. By providing a sales channel for post-consumer textile waste, we are creating a business incentive for waste workers and waste entrepreneurs to add textile waste to their waste management portfolio.
As a first step towards building a venture, we are carrying out market and technical validation exercises to ensure that the venture gets a solid tick mark on scalability, profitability, and impact. We have tied up with the Netherlands-based felt manufacturing company I-Did to help us develop the blueprint for setting up a manufacturing facility in India.