What will happen to the cloth leftovers of tricot shirts? How can recycled clothes be made into high-quality and good-looking items and at the same time be produced in an ethical and environmentally friendly manner? In 2013, a group of Finnish clothing experts started thinking how clothing industry leftovers could be recycled.

The result was the Pure Waste Textiles company, which sought business partners in the Tamil Nadu state in Southern India with the support of Finnpartnership. Tamil Nadu is one of the largest producers of tricot clothes in the world. A clothing factory was established in the area. The factory produces t-shirts made of 100 per cent recycled material. The making of one t-shirt saves 2 700 liters of water compared with conventional production. The company employs local people in a poor region and there are strict mechanisms ensuring that the manufacturing process is in accordance with environmental and corporate social responsibility requirements.

Photo: Pure Waste, graphics: Juho Hiilivirta