Inside the Kasa Rasa Kendra campus in Koramangala, Bengaluru, a new tin-roofed building has just opened, with a sign reading "The Circular Textile Lab" at its entrance. This is an initiative launched by architect and artist Nisha Mathew, aiming to keep virgin textiles that have never been used out of landfills. The lab's establishment has received support from Ramalinga Reddy, Minister for Forests, Ecology and Environment.

Nisha explained the particular problem with virgin textiles: unused fabric leaches harmful chemicals into the soil, whereas old clothes are different because they have been washed many times; during the rainy season, these chemicals enter the land more rapidly.

Less than a month after opening, the team has already collected scraps from tailor shops, fabric stores, and boutiques in Koramangala. Nisha said the goal is to make this community achieve "zero virgin textile waste generation" before establishing other similar sites across the city.

The project also provides employment for women from disadvantaged backgrounds. Since January this year, 45 women have received skills training in sorting, cutting, and sewing at L R Nagar to prepare for the lab's opening; currently 15 have stayed on to work at the lab, while the rest have found other jobs.

Outside the lab there is a sorting area. Materials are first washed and dried, then sorted by color, fabric, and size. Across from the shed, three women sit on the ground sorting piles of textiles, mostly divided into cotton and polyester. Nisha said the two are sometimes hard to tell apart, but the training enables them to judge by feel. Poomalli, nearly seventy years old, was formerly a flower seller in L R Nagar and switched careers to take on less physically demanding work. Nisha revealed that most of the women working here have had difficult lives, many are single mothers, and one has a husband bedridden with paralysis.

The women receive a stipend as an additional source of income. They work a few hours a day at the lab, and spend the rest of their time still working as cooks, domestic helpers, or casual laborers.

Fabrics are further sorted by size: small scraps too small to sew are made into buttons; long strips of fabric are spun into yarn using a hand-operated charkha. The lab currently has 7 charkhas and 6 sewing machines, with large basins in one corner holding textile materials waiting to be sorted. Nisha said the idea is to use these fabric scraps to make new clothes. By November, a shop selling these products will open here.

The idea dates back to 2012, when Nisha set up a similar facility in the Kolar Gold Fields, working with women from the mining community. She said this is the first time it has landed in Bengaluru, but it has always been part of the plan.

Source: From fabric waste to new clothes: This Bengaluru lab is giving textile waste a second life · Originally published on 2026-09-24