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ongoing Projects
Explore Current Initiatives and Research
A Data-Driven Approach to Scale Textile-to-Textile Recycling and Efficient Use of Textile Waste within the Fashion Industry.
This project was initiated in March 2024 at National Textile University, in collaboration with Reverse Resources, and funded by SMEP (Sustainable Manufacturing and Environmental Pollution Programme). It aims to introduce a digital, data-driven approach to textile waste management and recycling in Pakistan, thereby strengthening transparency, traceability, and circularity.With the emergence of the textile recycling sector in Pakistan, the industry faces a pressing challenge: the mismanagement and underutilization of textile waste. While Pakistan has a well-established textile recycling industry, it continues to grapple with issues such as opaque waste flows and reliance on imported post-consumer waste. A lack of transparency in waste sourcing and processing hampers the efficiency of local recycling efforts and contributes to the imbalance between waste supply and demand. Despite growing interest, the fashion industry’s use of recycled materials remains limited.
To address this, Reverse Resources has introduced a data-driven digital platform to improve textile waste mapping, traceability, and direct connections between suppliers and recyclers.
Objectives:
Market analysis and country-level mapping of recycling potential in Pakistan.
Register 200 tonnes of waste on the platform in Pakistan, with 30% recycled into new textiles.
Enhance transparency and efficiency in waste flows.
Reduce 88 tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually.
Funding Body: SMEP (Sustainable Manufacturing and Environmental Pollution Programme)
Reverse Resources
Duration: 2 Years
Enhancing Circular Business Models for Post-Consumer Textiles in Pakistan
The project's overall aim is to understand the current and desired future state of resale end destinations for different product archetypes (Denim Jeans, Outerwear, T-shirts, Activewear, Sweatshirts, and Jumpers) by examining both re-wearable and low-value re-wearable garments. It also seeks to identify the resale and repair potential of these garments in four selected European regions: Lithuania (Nordic/Baltic), the Netherlands (Western Europe), Poland (Central-Eastern Europe), and Spain (Southern Europe).
Moreover, this project highlights the key challenges faced in major export destinations and outlines the actions required to transition from the current state to the desired future state for resale and repair, in line with the waste hierarchy.
Funding Body: Fashion for Good
Duration: 1 Year
Improving Access to Sustainable Energy in Rural Pakistan Using Food and Fiber Agro-Waste as a Renewable Fuel (SAFER)
The SAFER (Improving Access to Sustainable Energy in Rural Pakistan using Food and Fibre Agrowaste as a Renewable Fuel) project aims to provide sustainable and decentralized energy to rural communities in Sindh, Pakistan by developing innovative agro-waste-to-energy technology. Pakistan's textile sector is responsible for significant environmental impacts, such as greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution, and microplastics.
Additionally, the production of cotton and viscose fibers leads to the depletion of resources and environmental degradation. National Textile University has developed a technology to convert banana agro-waste into fibers, but the lack of electricity in rural Sindh hinders the scaling of this innovation. To harness the energy from abundant agro-waste (80 million tonnes/year), the project will explore the feasibility of a waste-to-energy technology that converts agro-waste into clean and affordable energy, specifically syngas to electricity.
This solution will benefit the struggling textile industry, local communities, and improve soil fertility and food production through the generation of biofertilizers. Based on the estimated agro-waste production of 80 million tonnes per year, the project anticipates the production of over 57,488 million cubic meters of syngas annually for both textile and local communities. Additionally, it is expected to generate 30 million tonnes per year of nitrogen-enriched biofertilizers. The widespread implementation of this technology will have significant impacts on Pakistan's population, providing a clean, affordable, secure, and sustainable energy source that enhances the health and well-being of rural communities. Particularly, rural women will benefit from reduced time spent on collecting and using wood fuel.
Moreover, the project will bring economic benefits to both Pakistani and UK industries, including increased manufacturing orders, employment opportunities, and financial gains.Objectives:Develop and integrate innovative technologies to convert banana agro-waste into textile fibers, creating a local source of feedstock for the textile industry.
Establish a community-based electricity generation facility using banana agro waste, fostering a circular economy model and addressing the energy needs of rural communities.
Northumbria University (Lead),
ECO RESEARCH LTD,
Prime Eurotech (Pvt) Limited, Pakistan,
National Textile University.
Funding Body: UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
Duration: 1 Year
Sustainable Textiles Through Upscaling and Commercialization of Banana Fiber Value Addition in East Africa (BANATEX-EA)
Banatex-EA (Banana Textiles in East Africa) is an innovative project aimed at bridging the gap between global fiber demand and supply by promoting a sustainable transition to alternative fibers, specifically, banana fibers. Spearheaded by Busitema University in Uganda, under the leadership of Dr. Edwin Kamalha, the project focuses on harnessing the untapped potential of banana plants to produce sustainable textiles.
The BanaTex-EA project has been awarded a grant fund through the Sustainable Manufacturing and Environmental Pollution (SMEP) Programme. The SMEP Programme, funded by UK International Development (FCDO), is implemented in partnership with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). This allows the project to expand its research, development, and production efforts, paving the way for sustainable textile solutions in East Africa and contributing to global environmental sustainability.Objectives:The primary goal is to produce high-quality, spinnable banana fibers using specialized extraction processes and equipment developed by the National Textile University, Pakistan. By refining these techniques and involving textile mills and suppliers, the project aims to commercialize the product and create a new value chain within the textile industry.
BANATEX-EA seeks to enhance local economic opportunities and community livelihoods by empowering and training local farmers to supply banana stems. By providing farm extension services and purchasing stems that are typically discarded, the project offers farmers an additional income stream.
Busitema University (Lead).
Moi University, TEXFAD LTD.
Presidential Initiative on Banana Industrial Development (PlBlD).
Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS).
National Textile University,
Technical University of Kenya.
FreakinFuture.
Funding Body: Sustainable Manufacturing and Environmental Pollution (SMEP) Programme
Duration: 2 Years
Circularity in Textiles: Bringing Post-Consumer Textile Waste into the Loop by Regenerating as Fibers"
The project titled "Circularity in Textiles: Bringing Post-Consumer Textile Waste into the Loop by Regenerating as Fibers" is a two-year initiative funded by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan under its Technology Development Fund, in collaboration with the industrial partner, iTextiles Pvt. Ltd. The project aims to develop a low-cost, indigenous chemical recycling process for post-consumer cotton-polyester blended textile waste, which currently poses significant challenges to traditional mechanical and thermomechanical recycling methods. By optimizing solvent systems and spinning techniques, the project seeks to recover and regenerate both cellulose and polyester components in a way that enables high-quality, like-to-like recycling.
The initiative supports Pakistan’s textile industry in aligning with global sustainability commitments, particularly the mandates set by major international brands to incorporate 25–100% recycled fibers by 2025. It is also expected to generate new employment opportunities, reduce environmental impact, and strengthen Pakistan’s competitiveness in the global textile market. The outcomes include optimized recycling processes, characterization of regenerated fibers, a feasibility study, and a technology transfer agreement, contributing directly to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1, 9, 12, 13, 14, and 15.
Higher Education Commission-Pakistan
Duration: 2 Years
Improving Environmental & Social Compliance & Impact Measures of Textile Waste Management
This initiative seeks to transform textile recycling practices in Pakistan by launching a pilot project in the Satiana Waste Cluster—home to the country’s largest textile recycling operations. The effort will focus on embedding full traceability, environmental safeguards, and social compliance across the entire textile waste handling chain.
While Pakistan already plays a significant role in textile recycling, especially through its high volumes of post-industrial waste, much of this activity occurs informally and without proper oversight. Combined with growing climate risks and increasing international demand for recycled content, the need for a transparent, circular supply chain has never been more urgent.
By modernizing waste handling practices, introducing water treatment solutions, and building local capacity through training and technology, the pilot aims to set a new national benchmark for responsible recycling—benefiting both people and the planet.
Reverse Resources.
Closed Loop Fashion.
Duration: 6 Months