Globally, the fashion industry generates 100 million tonnes of textile waste every year and is responsible for nearly 10% of global carbon emissions, more than international aviation and maritime shipping combined. Less than 1% of clothing material is ever recycled back into new garments.

In India, the picture is just as urgent. The country generates an estimated 78 lakh tonnes of textile waste annually, and the number is rising fast as fast fashion consumption grows. Less than 20% of this waste is properly recycled; most of it is routed through informal channels, dumped in landfills, or burned in the open.

The environmental cost runs deeper than landfills. A single cotton T-shirt takes up to 2,700 litres of water to produce; a pair of jeans takes close to 7,500 litres, roughly what one person drinks over seven years. Textile dyeing units across India release untreated effluent directly into rivers like the Yamuna and the Ganga, contributing to nearly 20% of the country's industrial water pollution and turning stretches of these rivers toxic with heavy metals like chromium, lead, and mercury.