India textile minister pushes circularity at Navi Mumbai recovery hub
Sep 03, 2026
India’s Union Minister of Textiles Giriraj Singh has called for stronger textile recycling and circularity systems after reviewing operations at the Textile Recovery Facility (TRF) in Navi Mumbai.
Singh visited the facility coinciding with the Foundation Day of the Textiles Committee. During the visit, he inspected the processing chain, including automated sorting, fibre identification, shredding and recovery of secondary materials.
The TRF has been developed to divert post-consumer and pre-consumer textile waste away from municipal landfills through collection, segregation, upcycling and recycling. The minister said stronger recovery frameworks would help reduce dependence on natural resources while supporting India’s climate commitments and sustainable textile manufacturing ambitions, the ministery of textile said in a press release.
He also suggested that the initiative be expanded beyond the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) area to increase its reach and impact.
During the programme, the Textiles Committee and Refibre signed a Letter of Intent to develop a digital circular textile infrastructure platform covering post-consumer textile collection, traceability and impact measurement.
Singh also reviewed the use of technology developed by Kosha for segregating discarded clothing according to fibre groups. He appreciated the collaborative role of the Textiles Committee, NMMC, SBI Foundation and Tisser Artisan Trust in building an integrated system for textile waste collection, sorting, recycling and upcycling.
The minister further said wider adoption of such recovery and recycling systems could help position India as a global centre for sustainable textile manufacturing.
