Scaling Up Upcycling: Studying Challenges and Suggesting Solutions for Its Integration in the Existing Supply Chain

Abstract

India is the second largest textile exporter in the world producing clothing for major global brands around the world. A huge amount of pre-consumer textile waste is being generated on the cutting floor of these export houses on a daily basis. There is also post-consumer textile waste comprising second-hand clothing, damaged textiles and costumes. The enormous amount of textile waste is not being balanced by the collective steps taken by sustainable consumers or communities. The acceptance of sustainable production practice such as upcycling by in-house designers and manufacturers has been low. The effect of upcycling on the larger, mass-consumption population remains insignificant. This chapter introduces present challenges with scaling up upcycling in the fashion and textile industry and proposes to conduct an in-depth qualitative study into India-based brands.