Reweaving Value: The Partnership Stitching Circularity, Profit, and Dignity into India’s Textile Waste System
Enviu, in partnership with India’s Circular Apparel Innovation Factory (CAIF) and with support from IKEA Foundation and H&M Foundation, today announces the scale-up of a market-facing model that turns discarded hotel linens and mixed textile waste into high-value materials while formalizing informal waste workers and seeding new micro-enterprises.
Working with 7 grassroot organizations, the initiative has, to date, upskilled 3,000 informal waste workers, supported 50 new micro-entrepreneurs, and diverted over 4,000 metric tonnes of textile waste from landfills; an amount equivalent in weight to roughly 45 blue whales. Materials produced through the program (re-spun yarns and technical felt sheets) are already being tested by global brands across the packaging, acoustic and automotive sectors. The technical felt sheets are being developed and scaled through another Enviu venture, The Good Felt (TGF), which transforms textile waste into high-quality felt products
A venture born out of this work, Second Spin, is now scaling impact through a landmark partnership with global hospitality leader Ascott India and 50+ hotel partners, creating a replicable pathway for hotel linen waste to re-enter value chains as quality recycled inputs.
The global textile waste crisis exposes a market gap where valuable materials go untapped and millions of informal workers remain excluded from economic opportunity. At Enviu, we saw this not as an opportunity to re-think a system. Through ventures such as Second Spin and The Good Felt, we demonstrated that what has historically been considered waste can be transformed into a strategic resource, generating income for workers, creating cost efficiencies for global brands, and reshaping the hospitality and fashion industries.
This project challenges conventional thinking. What if luxury brands and grassroots entrepreneurs could co-create value rather than operate in separate worlds? By proving that systemic redesign can simultaneously shift livelihoods and industries, Enviu is showing the blueprint for how systemic venture building can turn complex societal problems into ventures that lead markets and redefine what impact truly means.
Our video capturing this transformation is live and it offers a rare, on-the-ground look at how circular design, community entrepreneurship, and global collaboration can reshape fashion’s future. Journalists and partners can request embargoed materials, b-roll, and field access for interviews with Enviu Textiles team, grassroots partners, and micro-entrepreneurs.
Click to watch our video here.
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