"Textile Recycling Unraveled", June 2020

About one month ago, a report on the prevalence of child labour and labour rights violations in the textile recycling industry in Panipat, India, was published by Arisa (a Dutch NGO occupied with business and human rights) and textile collector Sympany. 

The report ‘Textile Recycling Unravelled’, explains that every year, millions of kilograms of worldwide discarded textiles are shipped to India. Much of this used textile ends up in Panipat, the largest textile recycling hub in India. Non-rewearable textiles are shredded and spun into recycled yarn, from which new products are made, such as blankets, carpets and household textiles. Pre-consumer textile, the residual material generated during garment manufacturing, e.g. cutting waste, is also processed in Panipat. It is a highly informal industry, consisting of many smaller unregistered units in which workers have no formal employment contracts. Wages are below legal minimum wages, especially for female workers. Workers are exposed to dust and chemicals without protective equipment, and child labour occurs.