Reusing and repositioning are effective to reduce textile waste

Birla Cellulose is a World leader in Viscose Staple Fibre (VSF) and has a commendable position with major world market share.  As an Extremely versatile and easy to blend, Viscose Staple Fibre by Birla Cellulose is widely used in apparels, home textiles, & nonwoven applications. Shyamlal Patnaik, Joint President, Birla Cellulose, Grasim Industries, shares why the company is a leader in viscose industry and what are the sustainable measures that the company is adopting with Divya Shetty.

Can you elaborate on the journey of Birla Cellulose.

Grasim Industries is the parent company of Birla Cellulose. On August 25, 1947, the first Grasim Industries business was founded.   Our company primarily focuses on rayon, a viscose-based material. We all know from our shared history that Pakistan gained the majority of India’s cotton share after the country was partitioned. The leaders at the time asked G D Birla, who was already involved in cotton, to expand into rayon. And that’s how the company got its start in Nagda, Madhya Pradesh, which is also where we currently have our headquarters. We are the second-largest producer of viscose in the world, and we have plants in Thailand, Indonesia, and India where we make fibres. Additionally, we have pulp plants in Sweden, Canada, and South Africa. Overall, we produce all type of viscose, from basic rayon to speciality fibres like modal and Lyocell.

Birla Cellulose is the sole producer of natural cellulosic fibre in India. In addition to having a significant market share in India, where we are ranked second in the globe, all of the major international and Indian brands use our viscose.

What new sustainable practises has the company adopted?

The emphasis on sustainability has grown over the past few years across industries, and Birla Cellulose is no exception. We conduct a thorough lifecycle analysis of the product, starting with its creation and ending with customer disposal after use. Hence, all our products undergoes a thorough lifecycle analysis, during which we completely focus on providing transparency to both the end user and the brands, as well as to information about how we procure our pulp, how energy-efficiently we manufacture our products, how we responsibly use chemicals during production, and how we make the most of renewable energy and other energy-saving techniques. We have been taking these steps for a very long time.

However, the technical shift over the last three years has allowed us to make significant progress. And I’m happy to announce that we are amongst the top producer of viscose in the world, with a strong reputation for sustainability that is acknowledged and rated by globally designated bodies such as Canopy Hot Button, Higg Index, etc. A non-profit organisation called Canopy assigns manufacturers a rating based on the methods we employ to address sustainability. As the world’s most sustainable manufacturers of viscose, we have received the highest ratings for the previous three years in a row.

How are Indian brands responding to sustainability in general?

India is a very fast and fragmented textile and apparel industry. Of last two decades, the brands that have become famous in India, they primarily became famous because of the increasing of retail segment in India. Now, the B2C or D2C is gaining traction because of COVID and more awareness about sustainability and circular fashion. There are several brands who have taken initiative like Reliance or Tata, but I don’t see the smaller brands, much on sustainability factors, they do promote in their stores, like exchanging old clothes with new ones, but efforts done by them is limited. I observe that most Indian brands are still developing, but things are moving in the right direction. It won’t happen overnight. Sustainability is not a magic bullet. From fibre producers like us to the companies who sell it at retail, the entire value has the onus. Thus, it takes time. And I think India is moving in the right direction.

I have confidence that India’s greater objective of promoting sustainability will endure as India is one of the countries where the textile waste is minimal. We reuse clothing effectively and there is a whole value chain in place that has been for a long time, preventing the frequent disposal of clothing as is done in the US or Europe.

What are the ways to reduce textile waste from a clothing brand standpoint?

Reusing and repositioning are the two most effective ways to reduce textile waste. The third most crucial element is to produce SKUs in small quantities so they are not entirely wasted due to overproduction. I have observed that even smaller brands sell the same product online for half the price after the season is over. All of these things appear to be small, but they all contribute to significant waste.

The brands are now aware of the issue and efforts being made to ensure that every new fashion that emerges during the four seasons—autumn, winter, spring, and summer—is efficiently managed. The brands are making an effort to adhere to certain fundamental rules of sustainability. The bigger picture, though, is that the less the production we make, lesser the waste. I’m not saying that waste can be eliminated entirely, but we must strive for it, so that each SKU has a minimum amount of waste. Otherwise, you keep creating more and finally toss it out, which is one of the major causes of our worldwide textile waste.

Current buzzword in industry in addition to sustainability is digitalisation. So, what precisely is Birla Cellulose doing with regard to this?

Everyone is learning in their own way as the world of digitalisation progresses. Birla Cellulose is similar. We have made some good strides in the manufacturing side of digitalisation where it is possible to track and monitor energy, chemical, and water usage in order to manufacture the same product in a very effective manner. Additionally, we have a digital platform that allows users to interact with companies and the textile industry value chain. After purchasing a garment from a certain brand store, a brand user or consumer can clearly identify where it was manufactured by the garmenter, who is the weaver, processor, as well as from which fibre it was made, using a digital platform called GreenTrack. So this is one of the unique way that Birla cellulose tries to drive transparency.

GreenTrack is driven by Blockchain technology. More than 1500 value chain partners and more than 92 worldwide brands are currently registered with us. These brands conduct transactions on a daily basis in an effort to confirm the fibres being used and the goals being attained. It is the first of its kind in India, and as far as I know, no other fibre makers use this kind of tracking technology. And while we are really pleased of the fact that we were quite early adopters of digital technology in the B2C market, we are continuing to develop our digital process.

How was the company’s performance in the calendar year 2022 and what do you anticipate for the year 2023?

COVID had a huge impact in 2020-2021. The year 2022 was also unexpected because no one was aware of the Ukraine War or the recession. Undoubtedly, it was a roller coaster.

Speaking of 2023, I believe the first half will be gloomy due to the above-mentioned factors, the recession and the Ukraine crisis. Although consumer sentiment will improve, expenditure will drop because of these factors. However, I believe that 2023 will be better than 2022.   

I believe that there is a growing understanding of sustainability and circularity among all businesses, including Birla Cellulose, who are involved in the textile and apparel value chain. This moment is exciting. For those who are currently a part of this industry across any other organisations as well, I would like to say that this opportunity comes along only once in a lifetime. Let’s see how its shapes up.   But after COVID, fashion will unquestionably change significantly, more environmentally friendly, stylish and conscious. And I’m hoping that our customers are aware of this and will take sensible actions to support sustainability and circularity.