When it's not waste

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When it's not waste

Thursday, 18 July 2019 | Saimi Sattar

When it's not waste

The textile industry is responding to the challenges posed by shrinking resources in a variety of innovative ways, says Saimi Sattar

Garments that are upcycled, clothes that answer to the description of circular fashion or those which do not waste water — how often do we see labels flaunting these ideas?

Sustainable is a term often bandied about by different industries. And often times we, as consumers, wonder if it is nothing more than a marketing gimmick. However, the textile industry is stepping up its act from start to finish to ensure that sustainability and circular fashion extend beyond being mere words and become constructive actions.

Of course, there is a context and a reason why this particular industry needs to step up and get its act together. After agriculture, the textile industry is a front runner in the consumption of water. According to the Water Footprint Network, in conjunction with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) IHE Institute for Water Education, creating a single pair of jeans requires about 2,866 gallons of water! The use of chemical dyes pollutes the environment while waste products generated during pre- and post-production as well as frequently discarded garments choke up landfills.

At Textile Fairs India 2019 (TFI), which was being held at Pragati Maidan, there were companies and designers showcasing their particular effort on making it a more sustainable effort.

WARP AND WEFT

The world seems to be practically submerged in a sea of plastic. But then, so are the seas. In view of that, some of the yarn manufacturing companies have resorted to the best possible solution — mopping up PET bottles and then fashioning it into yarn.

DGM exports, Sulochna Cotton Spinning  Mills K S I Rajesh, says, “We are converting 10,980 million pet bottles every year into fibre. The plastic is blended with Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) or fair trade cotton, which is being grown by farmers trained by several NGOs to conserve water and use organic fertilisers. So we are contributing in two ways, by using plastics and also by using BCI.” But not just this, the Tirupur-based company is also actively working on water conservation. A process called pigmentation uses zero water. It is keenly working on environmental factors where the air emissions, chemical discharge and water wastage are being minimised. “Hundred per cent of  our energy needs are fulfilled by renewable energy power as we have our own solar and wind projects,” he points out.  

However, this is not the lone player in the game. Lotusville, which too, is based out of Tamil Nadu, is manufacturing yarn with 80 per cent cotton and 20 per cent polyester. “Even the cotton that we use is pre-production waste from the cutting section of the garment factories while the 20 per cent of polyester is made from pet bottle waste. Moreover, since there is no dyeing involved as the fibre takes the colour of the original cotton, water is saved as well,” says A S Pravin, managing director. While using different waste products at different times does alter the colour of the yarn, this is not visible to the naked eye and can be observed only under a colour test. The company supplies yarn to home textile manufacturers who manufacture towels, gloves and more for markets like Russia and other parts of Europe.

Pravin also says that initially when the company started out with the idea of sustainability, there were not too many takers. So they marketed it as a more economical option to virgin cotton. “When we started recycling three years ago, most of the people were buying it as a cheaper alternative. But the enquiries from the past six months have been specifically related to sustainability. We did about 60 tonnes in two-and-a-half years which rose by another 40 tonnes in the last six months when the focus changed to sustainability,” he says. 

The idea took birth in 2015 as the company wanted to innovate as it was not possible to compete in the regular market. “A lot of waste is generated in Tirupur as there is a well-developed cotton market which finds it hard to dispose the waste fibre. It is this, that we utilise,” he says.

However, wouldn’t the use of plastic affect the breathability as well as lead the fabric to heat up which could could prove disastrous in a tropical country like India? Rajesh points out, “We blend it with natural fibre and cellulose and can alter the combination to make apparel depending on the requirements of the seasons and countries.”

DESIGNERS’ TAKE

While the yarn and textile manufacturers do their bit, it is time for the designers to step up their act too. Sonia Tommy Antony, who has designed clothes for films like Chak de! India and Dhoom 3, has a different take on circular fashion. “Since we want variety in clothes, we are discarding them often. This in turn chokes the landfills. People are trying to upcycle but I am trying to reduce the consumption rate by making garments that are reversible. These are completely finished inside out and can be worn both ways,” she says. One goes through the rack to find out that there are lace dresses which on being reversed carry a print, or one with two prints on two sides or even  different colours. “It gives you the option of two  different outfits without cluttering your wardrobe. It is actually the lining of the garment which is made of a different fabric and gives it a new look,” says Sonia.

Moving away from the delicate and feminine clothes there are the regular, everyday, de rigueur ones, namely jeans. This particular industry even among textiles bears the cross for using a large quantity of water. But Padma Raj Keshri is just trying to reverse that damage in his own way. He says, “Annually, the world consumes 6.8 billion units of denim jeans and during the manufacture about 20 per cent of the fabric is wasted. I decided to use this and started sourcing it from factories.” He found a vendor who was ready to attach 50 metres of fabric which he fashioned into clothes. “Even then there was four per cent waste so I started recycling denim fibres,” he adds. The genesis of the idea could be traced to the time when he was shifting homes and realised that he had 30-35 pairs of jeans, which were worn out  from critical areas and couldn’t be used. “I created a dress for a friend and he loved it. I realised that there was a market for this,” says he. However, while manufacturing apparel for the market he does not prefer used jeans as hygiene is an issue. He makes jackets, jeans, jumpsuits and is planning to diversify into Indian wear as well. A jacket made with different pieces of denim fabric and with a lot of detailing is one of his fastest moving items. “At a big brand it would not retail for less than `25, 000 while I am selling it for half the price,” says the Ahmedabad-based designer.

Next up is Aishwarya Iyengar, who works with the the philosophy of zero waste and sustainability. Each of her garments has  trims and embroidery which she has sourced from old saris. “Unwearable saris have been fashioned into bags. The swatches that we receive on a daily basis have been used in shoes as well as for detailing in the kurtas as are the waste buttons,” says Aishwarya. She sources these from tailors, boutiques and factories.

Pushpa, on the other hand, believes in the basic idea of slow fashion. “I am a designer by day and embroidery artist by night. Whenever there is hand embroidery on anything, it immediately becomes circular. On the other hand, anything which is replicated more is discarded more often as happens with retail garments. If we buy clothes from a designer, we preserve it because there is hand-feel or hand embroidery which makes it precious,” she says.

PACKAGING WONDERS

How often have you bought a sustainable product which came packaged in reams and reams of plastic? Abhishek Jain, director, Vishal Print-N-Plast, says, “We use virgin plastic granules to make  pouches, and boxes while the carrier bags are made with pure non-woven fabric. These are packaging solutions for online retailers as well as the ones who have brick and mortar stores. These can be easily recycled to make plastic chairs which is not possible in plastic bags.”

Clearly, the end to end solutions are coming from within the industry and how.

Photo: Pankaj Kumar

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