Bombay Recycling Concern (BRC) is a registered social enterprise providing waste management services for post-consumer textile waste (secondhand clothing). We are assisting, connecting and empowering the used clothes recyclers community( we called them Bhandiwale/Bartanwale/Chindhiwale in Mumbai). We are encouraging Reuse, Repair & Reintroduction of used clothes to poor needy people in urban & rural areas through used clothes recycler community markets channels where needy people gets used clothes at cheaper price as well as community earning livelihood from our social entrepreneurs.
These initiatives will save the more than six decades old barter trade system of Devipujak (Waghari) communities who collect used clothes against brand new utensils in Mumbai,Delhi,Hyderabad,Kolkata, Ahmedabad and many more metropolitan cities in India. We should support this because This is a true living Circular Economy Trade Model as well as sustainable solutions for the textile and fashion industry.
The present situation focuses on the main environmental problems caused by the textile and fashion industry including Water pollution, Air pollution, Solid waste pollution (dumping ground in urban areas) and Climate change. The fashion industry has some startling statistics on environmental degradation. For instance,Manufacturing only one cotton T-shirt consumes 2700 liters of water. Secondly around 20% of industrial water pollution in the world comes from treatment and dyeing of textiles.Hence a new approach to the production, consumption and disposal of apparel has become absolutely necessary.
We need to spread awareness that the problem of used clothes is increasing due to online sales, offers, discounts, overproduction, promptly changing lifestyles/trends/fashion and new generation developed use and throw mentality, tonnes of discarded clothes accumulated at dumping ground each year adding to environmental issues.