Current State of Textile Waste Management in Pakistan- A Case of Karachi, Pakistan

Minzah Shehzad; Amna Bano; Hasnain Kazmi; Jamshaid Iqbal

Minzah Shehzad Department of Environment and Energy Management, College of business Management, Institute of Business Management, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
Amna Bano Department of Environment and Energy Management, College of business Management, Institute of Business Management, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
Hasnain Kazmi Department of Environment and Energy Management, College of business Management, Institute of Business Management, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
Jamshaid Iqbal Department of Environment and Energy Management, College of business Management, Institute of Business Management, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan

Keywords: textile waste, fabrics, recycling, Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract

The demand for textile products has grown dramatically worldwide in recent years. However, particularly in under developed nations like Pakistan, the management of textile waste is one of the least addressed sectors. Inappropriate management of textile waste has results in numerous economic, social and environmental issues. The objective of this study is to evaluate the current state of textile waste management in Pakistan by providing insight into three different areas: awareness about the textile waste management among the educated audiences, evaluation of industry level fabric waste management system and a quantification of textile waste generated by people from various economic classes in Karachi. Site visits, structured and un-structured interviews and questionnaire-based surveys were used to collect the necessary data and information for this study. The findings show that approximately >40% of people do not even understand the idea of textile waste management and about >70% are unaware about the concept of textile waste recycling. Survey results indicate that currently the majority of the textile industries are lacking adequate arrangements and research and development in textile waste management. Every year, in Pakistan about 270,125.34 metric tons of textile waste is generated including about 19,304.58 tons from Karachi. Among the Pakistan's economic classes, the highest amount textiles are discarded by the lower income class (class C), class A+ tends to trash about 195 Kg of clothing annually, whereas classes A and B demonstrate an annual discards of 150 and 105 Kg of textile waste respectively. Textile waste generation rate in the study areas is about 1.12 Kg/person/year. Currently, the major challenges to sustainable management of textile waste in Pakistan which is the inadequate technical and financial resources and a lack of awareness.