Circularity, sustainability key for global textile industry: PDS CEO

Speaking about his observations and learnings from 2022, Jain said that the industry has shown resilience over the past 12-18 months, with strong headwinds due to volatility in raw materials costs, supply chain disruptions, macroeconomic tensions, and COVID still rearing its head time and again.

“Specific to India, in the medium to long term, we will see a healthy domestic consumption of apparel and fashion, with local manufacturing incentivised by the PM MITRA schemes. Over the last couple of years, the Indian fashion and apparel segment has also gone through a talent metamorphosis as Indian designers and workmanship are gaining the spotlight with a global audience. Taking from learnings in 2022, some of the areas to keep in mind as we move forward are constant innovation, efficient use of technology and effectively conserving resources to increase operational efficiencies,” Sanjay Jain said in an email communication with Fibre2Fashion.

In his predictions for 2023, Jain said that circularity and sustainability offer a promising pathway for the global textile and apparel industry. “The concept of ‘reuse, recycle and reduce’ can take us towards the sustainable future in the years to come. For companies, it means conserving materials, extending a product’s lifetime through repair and reuse, and ultimately recycling. It also includes improving utilisation through new business models, such as those that offer products as a service, and sharing economy platforms.”

He added that with extreme reliance on non-renewable resources, the present-day textile industry pursues a linear model starting from raw material to production and finally resulting in cloth waste. Eventually, the value chain will transition to a circular economy where the textile waste will become a valued resource for re usage and up-cycled clothes. “At PDS Limited we are committed to invest in technology across our value chain that supports sustainability. We have invested in ventures such as Upcycle Labs (specialising in innovative upcycling service to convert unwanted inventory into new high-quality non-clothing products) and Yellow Octopus (resale service and take-back programme).”

Governments and industries across the world are focused on continuing the path to sustainability. Specifically in textile and apparel, factories and production units will find ways to reduce the environmental impact with better technology in washing plants and using solar energy to power factories. Improvements in worker communities will be seen by investing in skills development, better healthcare, and the education of the next generation.

“With regards to renewable energy, PDS has already installed a solar power project in its factory in Sri Lanka and will complete another solar power project in Bangladesh in the first half of 2023. As responsible corporate citizens, we aim to contribute to the ecosystem and the environment,” Jain further said.

Talking about the Indian government’s contribution in supporting the growth of the country’s textile industry, Jain said: “The Indian government has rolled out various benefits with an aim of empowering the textile, home, and garment industries as well as small/medium businesses. Textile parks, PLI schemes and reduction in customs for MMF will make Indian exports more competitive in the global markets. These schemes along with the international textile trade agreements can foster stronger ties with developed markets and give impetus to India’s manufacturing output, as well as foster innovation.

“Free trade agreements (FTA) with nations in South Asia have boosted the textile and apparel exports in these geographies. The government of India has signed an FTA with Australia and reinitiated FTA talks with Europe and the UK which once signed will be a big win for the Indian industry. With several global retailers initiating a China + 1 strategy, India is well poised to become a global Textile sourcing and manufacturing hub.”

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)