Page 25 - U4SSC Case study: Re-use of consumer goods and tools loaning, June 2020

Case Study 3 – Delhi: From worn-out /discarded textiles to premium ware

Authors:

- Purnima Wakhlu
- Vimal Wakhlu

Introduction

Background

The population of India has been rising at a very fast pace, especially in the cities. Cities like Kolkota,
Delhi and Mumbai are very densely populated. Some of the cities in India have larger populations
than many countries on other continents (the population of Delhi being 22 million). This is the result
of industries and other job avenues being concentrated in these cities.

In recent years, affluence has grown too. Ordinary people have much more disposable income than
was the case in the past. All this has resulted in people buying more and discarding more useable
textiles. Prosperity has brought with it the burden of disposing of huge amounts of garbage in the
form of discarded textile material.

This case study focuses on how this challenge can be mitigated using a revival of some of the traditional
art forms and converting domestic textile waste into usable, durable premium ware.

Challenge and response

Disposing of huge amounts of waste is a challenge for any city, and this applies to the cities of India
as well. All cities are looking at various means to tackle this. Some try to look at modern technologies
to mitigate this challenge, others work on segregation and recycling, and yet other cities are unable
to cope with this challenge.

This problem could be reduced in a very smart way by restoring, refurbishing and recycling textiles,
which form a huge part of domestic waste. Two traditional Indian crafts, Kantha from West Bengal
and Gabba from Kashmir, are brilliant examples of restoring and recycling large pieces of domestic
textile waste.

The old fabric pieces like curtains, bed linen, turbans, lungyi, tablecloths, blankets and the like are
collected by the company. These are then processed as per their customer’s requirements and delivered
as beautiful, durable articles ready for use. This is in tune with the Circular Economy and Cities initiative
of the U4SSC, the objective of which is to look at the re-use of various resources within the city. In this
case we are looking at re-using large pieces of useable/ discarded fabrics from households.

Case study: Re-use of consumer goods and tools loaning, June 2020 19