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Spotlight: Politics of Waste
SMART View Politics of Waste

Global Textile Waste Definitions Expose Deep Faultlines in Circularity Governance

The global dispute over textile “waste” definitions underscores how policy language can reshape markets, influence livelihoods, and determine who benefits from the growing circular economy.

As international agencies develop new criteria for textile “waste,” concerns are emerging over how these definitions affect circular trade and livelihoods. SMART, the US-based association for secondary materials and recycled textiles, urges clarity and inclusiveness. Its Director of Government Affairs, Jessica Franken, stresses that credible environmental frameworks require full transparency and peer-reviewed data.

[The texfash Spotlight series runs through the week.]
Earlier Editions
 
TOP STORY
State of Industry / Machinery Sector

12 November 2025

 12 minutes

On the Edge: Can India’s Synthetic Hub Weave Scale with Sustainability?

The Ministry of Heavy Industries’ BIS certification rule threatens to slow the sector, as most imported weaving machines lack Indian standards approval, potentially disrupting Surat’s vast production ecosystem.

It’s a paradox wrapped in polyester. Surat—the city that spins out 60 million metres of manmade fabric every single day—stands on the verge of an industrial chokehold. With 700,000 looms running and ₹200 billion in turnover, India’s synthetic hub is built on imported muscle: machines, yarn, and know-how. Now, a compliance rule threatens to pull the plug on that ecosystem—testing whether the synthetic capital can truly stitch together scale, self-reliance, and sustainability before the loom slows down.

  • Richa Bansal
 Feature
Latest: Updates
Ground Circularity / Denim Deal / III Feature
The Denim Deal’s arrival in India transformed fragmentation into focus, linking recyclers, mills, and makers through shared data and trust rather than imported procedures.

From Waste to Wear: India Shows Circular Denim Fashion at Industrial Scale

  • Subir Ghosh

7 November 2025
Greenwashing / The Tanja Story Interview
Consumer complaints in Denmark prompted scrutiny of how fashion companies frame sustainability in marketing and public communication.

First Person: How a Danish Researcher Forced Fashion to Confront Its Greenwashing Compulsion

  • Subir Ghosh

6 November 2025
Other Top Stories
 
ITF Intertex Spain 2025
CIRCULARITY / RECYCLING / SECONDS / WASTE
Collaboration under the Denim Deal turned Europe into a laboratory for responsible production, proving that circular practices could coexist with industrial scale and commercial discipline.

Europe Turns Circular Fashion Data Into A Fully Working Industry Model

Europe’s denim industry has put data where its mouth is. A new regional collection helmed by Denim Deal shows that traceability, accountability, and aesthetics can function as one production system. By hard-coding transparency into every stage of design and manufacture, European mills have turned circularity from experiment into standard practice across their factory floors.

Subir Ghosh
 
Morocco Fashion Tex 2026
FLASHPOINT: CLIMATE
Climate Action / WRAP Roadmap
Collaboration between signatories, retailers, and charities has expanded reuse and recycling networks, capturing thousands of tonnes of textiles that would otherwise have become waste.

Circular Dreams at Risk: WRAP Sounds Alarm on Textile Growth Outpacing Climate Targets

  • Staff Writer
 Update

29 October 2025

Climate action NGO WRAP has unveiled a new UK Textiles Pact Roadmap to fast-track circularity and environmental progress across the industry. Despite per-tonne cuts in carbon and water use, soaring production volumes and linear business models threaten to erase those gains. The Roadmap strengthens collaboration, targets upstream emissions, and supports policy reforms for a resilient circular future.

Return to Sender / Carbon Crisis
Returned garments move through extensive transport loops that add thousands of unseen kilometres to each purchase, turning convenience into one of fashion’s largest emission sources.

Inside the Growing Carbon Crisis Behind Fashion’s Easy-Return Culture

  • Special Correspondent
 Feature

23 October 2025

The growing ease of online returns is redrawing the map of fashion logistics. What began as a customer service feature has become an environmental liability, adding distance, fuel use, and waste to every transaction. The system built for convenience now defines how much carbon fashion sends back into circulation, a new study has pointed out.

 
COLUMNS
 
Saudi Fashion Tex 2026
EXCLUSIVES
 
FOCUS: COTTON
From sowing to spinning, every segment of India’s cotton value chain is under stress, affected by rising costs, outdated technology, and fragmented policy oversight across ministries.

Frayed Futures: India’s Cotton Crop Unspooling Fast

India’s cotton story is fraying. Once the world’s largest producer, it now harvests less from more. Fields are shrinking, farmers are quitting, and seeds have stood still. The crop that once wove India’s textile strength now risks unravelling under policy paralysis, poor yields, and disjointed priorities from farm to factory.

Richa Bansal
 
 
SPOTLIGHT ARTICLES: MOST READ
 
SPOTLIGHT EDITIONS: SELECT 4
State of Leather 2024 21 Oct 2024
Has to be Leather All the Way!
Cotton for Good 2024 7 Oct 2024
One Crop, One Fibre, Many Stories
 

Highlights: Sea Change

"Quote Unquote"

Mijke van Ballegooijen
Mijke van Ballegooijen
Chief Executive Officer
Byborre
When a designer can see the footprint of a decision in real time, responsibility becomes a design parameter, just like colour or texture. Transparency doesn’t just inform; it should change behavior, because in the end, we are all responsible. It’s up to us to make the right choices, as producers, designers, and buyers.
MORE: Byborre’s Radical Textile Model Merges Craft, Digital Innovation and Accountability

"Quote Unquote"

Josephine Mayer
Josephine Mayer
CEO and Co-Founder
CircularFabrics UG
In fashion, they’ve shown the potential to match the flexibility and softness of premium nylon yarns. In industrial contexts—such as automotive or maritime applications—we’re exploring how the materials can meet more stringent performance needs. We’re currently preparing for more extensive validation testing in collaboration with potential partners.
MORE: How CircularFabrics is Redefining Nylon Recycling Through Low-Impact Chemistry
 
 
FOCUS: LEATHER
The AILPA 2025 exhibition underscored Kolkata’s emergence as a global platform connecting Indian manufacturers with international leather buyers.

India’s Leather Industry Repositions as Global Buyers Converge on Kolkata

Kolkata’s hosting of AILPA 2025 represented more than an industry event—it symbolised India’s recalibration within shifting global trade currents. Amid market disruptions and evolving tariff landscapes, the city emerged as a key platform connecting manufacturers and international buyers, highlighting the sector’s growing capability, design sophistication, and readiness for the premium export market.

Vasan Suri
Lineapelle 2025 demonstrated that the industry is ready to communicate in a different way. The collaboration between UNIC, Lineapelle, La Conceria, Is It Leather?, and voices like Volkan’s marks the beginning of a more open, consumer-connected era. But collaboration must extend to influencers, educators, and storytellers, people who can speak the language of the next generation of consumers.

The Power of Storytelling, Community and Leather’s Next Chapter

  • Blake Garavaglia
 Commentary

14 October 2025
 
 
ATTENTION: DENIM
 
COMPANY NEWS / PRESS RELEASES
 
Young India Fashion Survey 2025