The Future is Circular: Why Linear Models Are Breaking Down

In the world of textiles, we’ve long followed a model that was simple and linear: Take – Make – Use – Waste. Raw materials are extracted, turned into products, sold, and eventually discarded. It’s the system that powered the global rise of fast fashion, mass production, and industrial expansion.

But this system is cracking. Landfills are overflowing. Water sources are polluted. Resources are finite. And climate change is no longer a distant worry — it’s a present crisis.

The future isn’t linear. The future is circular.

In this edition of InterTeX Connect Weekly, we unpack what circularity means in textiles, why the linear model is unsustainable, and how MSMEs in India — from Panipat’s recycling units to Tirupur’s zero-liquid-discharge dye houses — are quietly pioneering the shift.

🌀 What is a Circular Economy? — Through the Textile Lens

At its core, a circular economy is a regenerative system designed to minimize waste and maximize resource efficiency. Unlike the traditional linear model — which follows a take-make-dispose path — a circular economy keeps products, materials, and resources in continuous use through processes of reuse, repair, remanufacturing, and recycling.

🌱 What does this mean for textiles?

In the textile and apparel industry, a circular economy is not just an environmental ideal — its becoming a strategic necessity. The industry, long criticized for being one of the largest polluters globally, is now at the forefront of circular innovation. Here’s how circular principles are reshaping the textile value chain:

1. Designing for Longevity

Circularity starts at the drawing board. Designing garments that are durable, repairable, and timeless — rather than fast-disposable fashion — is key.

• Brands are shifting from trend-based production to timeless collections.
• Materials like organic cotton, hemp, or durable blends are being preferred for their long life span.
• Some MSMEs and export units in Tirupur and Ludhiana have started promoting long-lasting knitwear and innerwear with extended wearability.

2. Material Innovation and Responsible Sourcing

Circular textiles prioritize recycled, regenerative, or biodegradable inputs over virgin resources.

• PET bottle recycling units in Panipat are now converting post-consumer plastic waste into polyester yarns, which are spun into garments and home textiles.
• The Kolkata jute and cotton bag manufacturing sector is adopting circular inputs by sourcing waste cotton shoddy yarns and recycled trims.
• Upcycled deadstock fabrics and factory surplus are being used to create new fashion lines by small-scale labels.

3. Waste Minimization at Every Stage

A circular model eliminates waste by rethinking how products are made and consumed.

• Zero-waste pattern-making and lean manufacturing are becoming more common.
• Dyeing and processing units are being incentivized to use closed-loop water systems and low-impact chemicals.
• Surat’s synthetic fabric sector is investing in cleaner production techniques and nylon/spandex recycling pilots.

4. Repair, Reuse & Repurpose

Giving textiles a second life is fundamental to the circular vision.

• Brands and platforms now offer garment repair services, especially in premium urban segments.
• NGO-run training centres in rural India are teaching women how to repurpose old clothes into quilts, bags, and accessories.
• Retailers are experimenting with buy-back or exchange programs, promoting customer participation in reuse.

5. Recycling and Circular End-of-Life

Once a garment reaches end-of-life, it can be mechanically or chemically recycled into new raw materials.

• Cotton-rich garments can be mechanically shredded into fibre for reuse in insulation, mattress filling, or low-grade yarns.
• Chemical recycling — still in nascent stages in India — promises to break down textile blends and regenerate fibres like viscose or polyester.
• The informal sector, especially in North India, plays a crucial role in sorting, grading, and resale of used garments — a circular practice, though still unorganized.

6. Circular Business Models

Circularity isn’t just about materials — it’s about rethinking how we sell and consume fashion.

• Rental platforms for occasion wear, school uniforms, or maternity clothes are emerging.
• MSMEs and D2C brands are experimenting with made-to-order and pre-order models to reduce overproduction.
• Digital resale marketplaces (e.g., for factory seconds or returned goods) are helping reduce inventory waste.

🚀 Why This Matters?

The push toward circularity is not just an ecological imperative — it’s an economic and competitive one. As international buyers and compliance standards increasingly demand transparency, traceability, and sustainable design, Indian MSMEs and textile stakeholders need to future-proof their operations. Embracing circular economy principles allows small players — whether its a PET recycler in Panipat or a jute bag maker in Kolkata — to create value from waste, reduce dependency on virgin materials, and gain access to responsible markets.

🚫 The Problem with the Linear Model

The traditional linear model has serious consequences:

• Waste generation: The fashion industry produces over 92 million tonnes of waste annually.
• Water use: A single cotton shirt requires 2,700 liters of water to make — enough for one person’s drinking needs for 2.5 years.
• CO₂ emissions: The global textile industry emits 1.2 billion tonnes of CO₂ annually, more than international flights and maritime shipping combined.
• Downcycling: Most waste textiles are either incinerated, downcycled into rags or insulation, or landfilled — losing material value entirely.

Worse, the burden of this waste is disproportionately borne by the Global South — including India.

🇮🇳 Why This Matters to Indian MSMEs

India is a textile powerhouse, but it also faces mounting challenges:

• Pressure from global buyers to reduce waste and adopt circular practices
• Scarcity of clean water in industrial clusters
• Low margins that make waste an avoidable cost
• Increased scrutiny on environmental and labor standards

Contrary to popular belief, circularity isn’t just for large brands or MNCs. In fact, MSMEs are often better positioned to adapt quickly, innovate locally, and close the loop — if they get the right support.

🧶 Case Study 1: Panipat – Turning Waste into Wages

Once called the “cast-off capital of the world,” Panipat in Haryana has long been associated with the processing and recycling of used clothing and textile waste. While the term may have once carried a connotation of industrial drudgery and environmental neglect, the story of Panipat today is one of resilience, reinvention, and circular innovation.

♻️ A Second Life for Textiles

Every day, thousands of tonnes of discarded clothes, mostly from the US, UK, Europe, and the Middle East, are shipped to Panipat. These aren’t just worn garments — they include unsold retail inventory, post-consumer waste, manufacturing rejects, and even household textiles. Once in Panipat, these materials enter an intricate, informal-yet-efficient ecosystem of sorting, repurposing, and recycling.

Heres what happens to them:

• Sorting & Grading: Workers — often women from local communities — sort textiles manually by fabric type, colour, and potential usability. Natural fibres like cotton and wool are separated from synthetics like polyester and nylon.
• Shredding & Garnetting: Sorted materials are mechanically shredded into fibrous form, a process known as garnetting. This reclaimed fibre becomes the raw input for new yarns.
• Yarn Production: The recycled fibre is spun into low-cost yarn, commonly known as shoddy yarn. While it may not have the strength of virgin fibre, its an effective, low-impact material for specific end uses.
• Final Products: These yarns go into making:

Panipat’s recycled wool blankets are famously used by government and disaster-relief agencies, proving that even the most humble textile scraps can provide warmth and dignity.

🌍 Closing the Loop with PET Recycling

In recent years, Panipat has expanded beyond traditional shoddy yarns to embrace plastic circularity. A growing number of units are now engaged in recycling post-consumer PET bottles into polyester fibres.

Here’s how it works:

• Bottles are collected, sorted, cleaned, and crushed into flakes.
• These flakes are melted and extruded into polyester staple fibre (PSF).
• The fibre is then spun into yarn for garments, home furnishings, and technical textiles.

The circular supply chain in Panipat, in this sense, mirrors the emerging vision of textile-to-textile recycling — except it already exists, albeit in a fragmented and informal manner.

🧵 A Labour-Intensive Circular Engine

Panipat’s recycling economy is heavily labour-intensive, providing employment to thousands — many of whom are migrant workers or women with limited formal education. What’s remarkable is how waste becomes wages here:

• Employment generation in sorting, handling, and processing
• Skill-based roles in spinning, loom operation, and finishing
• Micro-entrepreneurship in transport, scrap resale, and auxiliary services

In essence, Panipat is a living, breathing example of how the circular economy can also be an inclusive economy.

⚠️ Challenges in the Circular Journey

Despite its successes, Panipat’s model also faces several systemic challenges:

1. Quality Control: Recycled yarns often lack consistency, making it hard to meet global standards.
2. Compliance & Regulation: Much of the activity operates in the unorganised sector, lacking proper EHS (Environment, Health & Safety) safeguards.
3. Global Perception: International brands often overlook such hubs due to lack of certifications or visibility in their supply chains.
4. Lack of Traceability: There’s minimal documentation on sourcing, inputs, and output flows — making it difficult to integrate with formal circular procurement models.

✨ Opportunities Ahead: Formalising the Informal

Despite its informality, Panipat holds immense potential to evolve into a global circular textile hub, especially with the right interventions:

• Investment in R&D can help improve fibre strength and quality.
• Certification programs (like GRS – Global Recycled Standard) can open new markets.
• Capacity building for workers and MSMEs can enhance productivity and compliance.
• Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) can build better infrastructure, logistics, and material recovery facilities.

If Panipat’s circular system — from PET bottles to shoddy yarn — is formalised and scaled responsibly, it could become a blueprint for sustainable manufacturing in the Global South.

📌 Why This Case Matters?

Panipat teaches us that circularity is not just about high-tech labs or luxury sustainability claims. Its about the real-world transformation of waste into value, powered by people, process, and persistence.

In a time when global brands are talking about textile circularity, Panipat is already living it — quietly, persistently, and with real social and environmental impact.

🌊 Case Study 2: Tirupur – Closing the Loop on Water

Tirupur, Tamil Nadu, is India’s knitwear hub — and it once faced a shutdown due to pollution in the Noyyal River. But the crisis became a catalyst.

Today, over 60 dyeing units in Tirupur operate with Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) systems — recovering, treating, and reusing 90–95% of wastewater.

Impact:

• Saves millions of litres of freshwater annually
• Reduces dye/chemical discharge
• Sets a benchmark for circular water usage

Key takeaway: Circular practices can be profitable and future-proof business operations — when adopted proactively, not reactively.

♻️ What Circularity Looks Like for MSMEs

You don’t need an advanced lab or a green marketing team to go circular. Here are practical steps MSMEs can take today:

1. Use Recycled Inputs

• Source recycled cotton/polyester yarns
• Use post-consumer textile waste as raw material
• Look for RCS or GRS certified suppliers

2. Design for Durability and Reuse

• Avoid fast trims or over-accessorising
• Promote timeless designs
• Encourage take-back or repair programs

3. Create Value from Waste

• Partner with recycling units for fabric scraps
• Turn cuttings into packaging, stuffing, accessories
• Explore fabric-to-fiber recovery tech

4. Adopt Water & Chemical Looping

• Reuse process water where possible
• Replace harsh chemicals with biodegradable alternatives
• Keep a basic chemical inventory for traceability

5. Improve Traceability

• Maintain lot-wise production logs
• Use QR codes to share product lifecycle info
• Participate in early-stage Digital Product Passport pilots (especially for EU markets)

🧵 Case Study 3: Kolkata’s Jute Bag Makers

Kolkata is home to hundreds of jute and cotton bag manufacturers — many of them MSMEs exporting globally.

One such unit in Barabazar, with just 35 workers, began collecting stitching waste and collaborating with a local startup that converts scraps into paper and eco-packaging.

They also shifted to vegetable-based dyes for select orders and began communicating their circular story through QR-enabled hangtags.

Result: Not only did this open up new European buyers, but it also improved their cost efficiency by reducing input waste.

💡 Circularity ≠ Perfection

Let’s be clear: circularity doesn’t mean a zero-waste utopia overnight. It means:

• Rethinking waste as a resource
• Reducing leakages in the system
• Designing smarter, not just greener

It’s not about certifications alone. It’s about mindset, process, and accountability. Circularity is a journey — not a checkbox.

🧭 What Needs to Change

For circularity to scale in India, especially across MSMEs, we need:

• Policy support: Incentives for recycling, waste segregation, and low-impact tech
• Buyer collaboration: Support for co-developing sustainable products
• Financial access: Micro-finance and credit schemes for green capex
• Training & awareness: Upskilling workers and owners on waste reduction strategies

Most importantly, we need to shift the narrative — from compliance to competitiveness.

🚀 The Way Forward

The textile industry can no longer afford to operate in a linear world.

India’s strength lies not just in its scale but in its resilience, diversity, and ingenuity — especially among its MSMEs. By embracing circularity, we don’t just reduce waste — we unlock new markets, build stronger supply chains, and future-proof our businesses.

Let’s move from line to loop. Because the future isn’t just green — it’s circular.

✅ If this edition resonated with you, share it with a fellow industry peer or supplier. Circularity starts with conversation — and ends with collaboration.

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