Re-START Alliance launches Cluster Collective to scale textile recycling in India

The Re-START Alliance, an initiative focused on scaling textile recycling and convened by Laudes Foundation with founding partners Canopy, Fashion For Good, and IDH, launched its first flagship project: the Cluster Collective. This ambitious four-year programme, led and implemented by founding partner IDH, aims to unlock the significant economic potential of textile-to-textile (T2T) recycling in India, a country that generates approximately 7.8 million tonnes of textile waste annually.

The Cluster Collective will adopt a proven cluster-based approach, focusing initially on the Ludhiana and Indore textile hubs before expanding to two additional clusters. The programme will bring together key stakeholders—aggregators, recyclers, and manufacturers—around these industrial hubs to benefit from shared infrastructure, investment, and scale. Key focus areas include scaling critical infrastructure, particularly advanced sorting and recycling technology, formalizing labour, strengthening policy alignment, and ensuring efficient feedstock flows.

According to Jagjeet Singh Kandal, country director from IDH, the initiative directly addresses the current fragmentation and lack of coordination within India’s textile ecosystem. "Cluster approaches are already proven and widely used in other sectors," Kandal commented. "By focusing on existing textile hubs... this approach will connect aggregators, recyclers and manufacturers in a coordinated and structured manner and in a way that creates long-term value for all stakeholders."

The programme is built on three core components: a collaborative, jurisdiction-based model; deep market integration, utilizing Letters of Interest (LOIs) and off-take agreements from brands to create early demand; and a blended finance technical assistance (TA) fund. Managed by Navaka Social Business Fund, the TA fund plans to deploy 13 million euros in grants, concessional loans, and patient capital to build infrastructure, integrate traceability, and strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The Cluster Collective is the Re-START Alliance's first official project and is designed to help the alliance achieve its goal of bringing 1 million tonnes of additional recycled fibres back into textile supply chains. Partners in the programme currently include the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in India under the EU – India Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy Initiative.