Industry Technologies

It Takes Up to 10,000 Liters of Water to Make One Pair of Jeans; This Startup Can Do It in Just 10

How much did you pay for the pair of jeans you bought recently? The answer probably lies in the receipt in your pocket. But this receipt doesn’t mention a hidden, non-monetary cost incurred on your item of clothing, or even your t-shirt or dress. To quantify the magnitude of this cost, it takes about 2,700 liters of water to produce one t-shirt, while a pair of jeans requires anywhere between 7,500 to 10,000 liters, which collectively amounts to drinking water for more than ten years for one person. This is because cotton, which grows mainly in dry parts of the world, requires a high amount of water. A pair of jeans needs one kilo of cotton, costing a hefty price to the environment. The textile industry is a massive contributor to carbon emissions and covers about 10 percent of all global emissions. Surat, Gujarat (India)-based Shreyans Kokra was appalled when he learned of these startling statistics during his higher studies in entrepreneurship at Babson College, USA. A chartered financial analyst by qualification, Shreyans belongs to a family that has been in the textile business for over four decades. “I had never thought about how much damage the textile industry causes to the environment up until then. I wanted to mend old ways,” he tells The Better India.
Jeans from agri-wasteSo when Shreyans returned to India, he started looking for alternatives to bring sustainability to the textile business. He tried converting hemp plants into fibers, and eventually, fabric. However, two years of exploration and research turned out to be futile. “I learned that Surat, a major textile manufacturing hub in India, did not possess a technology to produce textiles in an environment-friendly manner,” the 28-year-old says. The lack of equipment inspired Shreyans to develop a technology from scratch. In 2017, he launched a startup, CanvaLoop Fibre Private Limited, by creating a proprietary technology that converts agricultural waste from pineapple, banana, and hemp into textile-grade fiber. In this method, the water requirement is reduced drastically, he says. “The technology helps reduce the water requirement to 10 liters. It is because the fabric is made from waste and does not require water to grow the raw material — in this case, plants,” Shreyans says. He assures that the technology can break down complex agricultural waste into soft, comfortable fabric. Citing an example of banana fiber, Shreyans says, “The banana stem is cut and opened to drain the water inside and then dried to extract the fiber. Our technology processes the raw fiber through a series of treatments.”
The entrepreneur explains that the raw fiber is first treated with biochemicals. “It then undergoes a mechanical process followed by enzymatic treatment for softening and refining the material. The processed fiber from the different treatments results in a material similar to cotton. Rather, it is softer and lighter,” he says.
A drop in an oceanAt present, the company is using pineapple leaves to make fabric. “We are in the process to rope in farmers from Himachal Pradesh, Assam, Uttarakhand, and other Himalayan regions to source the hemp for industrial use,” he adds. “Employment is a major concern in the Himalayan region and causes migration on a large scale. I hope to provide employment opportunities to the locals,” he says. The company produces about 80 tonnes of fiber from agricultural waste in a month, which is woven into clothing by major global brands such as Arvind Textiles, Levis, Target, H&M, and others. “The product is used more in countries like Australia and North America. In India, we have a store in Mumbai that offers jeans and clothing by the brand Slow,” he says.
He also notes that despite the success, sourcing agricultural waste remains a challenge. “Farmers have to be convinced not to burn their agricultural waste. They have to segregate the waste before we collect it, and training community members to do this is demanding at times. Moreover, the logistics to transport the material is a hindrance that we are trying to smoothen,” he adds. Shreyans aims to motivate and inspire others to bring sustainability to the textile industry. “I have been able to make the sustainable switch, but the industry at large continues to follow the non-sustainable path. I hope to serve as an example to bring a larger difference in coming years,” he adds.Source: thebetterindia.com