"Blind spots in textile recycling. Fashion’s sustainability claims overlook workers’ rights", 31 Jan 2026

ARISA's report examines how leading global fashion brands’ growing reliance on textile recycling and circularity initiatives has failed to address, and in some cases obscured, serious labour rights risks faced by workers in recycling facilities in India and Pakistan. While brands increasingly promote recycled fibres and take-back schemes as evidence of sustainability, the research finds that recycling operations remain largely excluded from brands’ human rights due diligence processes.

Based on desk research and engagement with 20 international fashion companies, the report documents widespread lack of transparency regarding recycling facilities, waste processors, and suppliers of recycled textile inputs. Workers in textile recycling hubs such as Panipat, Tirupur, Faisalabad, and Karachi are exposed to hazardous dust, chemicals, and unsafe machinery, often without adequate protective equipment. The sector is characterised by low wages, excessive working hours, informal employment, absence of social security, and heightened risks of child and migrant labour.

The report finds that most brands rely on certification schemes to demonstrate responsibility, despite extensive evidence that such audits fail to detect serious labour abuses. Only a small number of companies acknowledge that recycling facilities fall within their supply-chain responsibility, and none provide concrete data on working conditions or remediation efforts.

The findings raise concerns that circular fashion initiatives risk amounting to greenwashing while labour rights violations in recycling value chains remain unaddressed.

As per ARISA, 20 fashion companies/brands were contacted. 7 companies/brands responded - BESTSELLER, Fast Retailing, H&M, Inditex, Mango, Next, Nike. 13 companies/brands did not engage or did not respond at all - adidas, ASOS, Debenhams Group, Decathlon, Gap, Gymshark, Marks & Spencer, New Look, Primark, Puma, Shein, Urban Outfitters, VF Corporation.