An exploration into textile waste (In progress)
ThreadCycle: Building a circular platform for textile waste and upcycling
This project explores how we can reduce textile waste by creating a digital platform that connects waste generators, upcyclers, and eco-conscious consumers. Through research, interviews, and market analysis, we identified key challenges in sourcing, awareness, and accessibility — and designed a system that supports textile collection, a marketplace for recycled materials, and community-driven sustainability initiatives.
Industry
Textile
My role
UI UX Designer
Platform
Mobile
Timeline
April 2025 - Present
Problem statement
The fashion and textile industries generate massive waste each year, most of which ends up in landfills or incinerated. While interest in sustainable fashion is growing, recycling systems remain limited and unstructured.
Independent designers and conscious consumers want to work with upcycled materials but face inconsistent supply, poor access to waste textiles, and no central platform to source or sell. These gaps highlight the urgent need for a connected ecosystem that transforms textile waste into opportunity — driving ethical design and a circular fashion economy.
Massive waste generation - Over 92 million tons of textile waste are produced globally each year — most of it ends up in landfills or incinerated.
Lack of infrastructure - Recycling systems for textiles are limited or non-existent, making sustainable disposal difficult.
Access & supply issues - Upcyclers and designers struggle to find reliable sources of discarded materials; supply is scattered and unorganized.
No central platform - There’s no unified space to collect, buy, sell, or donate textile waste and upcycled products.
Low awareness & accessibility - Public awareness is still low, and sustainable fashion options remain hard to access for everyday consumers.
Goals & Objectives
Our goal is to reduce textile waste by building a circular ecosystem that supports recycling, upcycling, and sustainable reselling of textiles. We aim to collaborate with fashion brands, manufacturers, retailers, and local communities to improve textile collection and raise environmental awareness. By developing innovative technology and educational initiatives, we strive to make textile recycling more efficient, accessible, and impactful.
Reduce textile waste through recycling & upcycling - Enable effective recycling, upcycling, and reuse of discarded textiles to minimize landfill waste.
Build a tech-driven circular ecosystem - Develop technology to support textile collection, traceability, and the sale of upcycled products — connecting generators, makers, and buyers.
Raise awareness & drive collaboration - Educate the public on textile waste and partner with brands, manufacturers, and communities to promote sustainable practices.
Scope
Building a platform that connects textile waste generators with upcyclers, buyers, and donors. The focus is on three key areas: a system to collect textile waste, a marketplace to sell upcycled materials, and a donation feature to support awareness and community impact — all aimed at making textile recycling easier, accessible, and more effective
Textile waste Collection System
A system that lets individuals, tailors, and factories easily donate or schedule pickups for textile waste — ensuring proper sorting and delivery to upcyclers, recyclers, or buyers.
Marketplace for recycled Textiles
A platform marketplace where upcycled and recycled textiles can be sold directly to designers, artisans, and conscious buyers — bridging the gap between supply and demand.
Donation Integration for awareness and impact
A donation feature that allows people to contribute textiles — supporting awareness campaigns, education, and community sustainability efforts.
Research & insights
To validate the problem and better understand the needs of people interacting with textile waste, we conducted primary research through surveys and interviews. We engaged with tailors, boutique owners, upcyclers, designers, and conscious consumers to explore how they manage textile waste, the challenges they face, and their views on sustainability.
Online survey
We designed a 3–5 minute survey to understand how different individuals — including tailors, boutique owners, upcyclers, students, and conscious consumers — interact with textile waste in their daily lives.
The survey explored 5 key areas:
Roles & demographics – Who the respondents are and their relationship with textile waste.
Interaction with waste – How they generate, reuse, donate, or dispose of textile waste.
Challenges faced – Barriers in sourcing, recycling, or upcycling textiles.
Motivations – What would encourage them to adopt sustainable textile practices.
Platform expectations – Their openness to a digital solution and features they’d find useful.
The responses gave us valuable insights into current gaps in awareness, infrastructure, and access — and also confirmed that there is clear interest in a platform that could streamline textile collection, reuse, and community engagement.
Survey insights by key focus areas
We grouped our survey findings into five key areas to better understand user behavior, challenges, and expectations around textile waste:
User roles
Respondents included upcyclers, boutique owners, students, and conscious consumers — giving us a diverse perspective across the ecosystem.
Waste interaction
Most respondents (70%) do not currently generate, collect, or use textile waste — but they are curious and open to learning more about it.
Key challenges
Lack of awareness and a dedicated platform is the biggest challenge for those working with textile waste, followed by low demand, logistical issues, and inconsistent material availability — highlighting the urgent need for a centralized, accessible system.
Motivations
Most respondents are motivated by environmental impact, reducing waste, and creative interest. Income generation and supporting artisans also play a strong role, while fewer see better platforms/resources as a motivator — showing that passion and purpose are key drivers in this space.
Platform Interest
80% of respondents are open to using a platform that connects waste generators, designers, and buyers. The most desired features include pickup/delivery help (90%), e-commerce for buying/selling (80%), and impact tracking and community-building tools (60%). This reflects strong demand for convenience, transparency, and meaningful engagement.
Real stories behind the data
To complement our survey findings, we conducted one-on-one interviews with select participants to explore their personal experiences with textile waste, upcycling, and sustainable fashion. These interviews helped us move beyond surface-level responses and understand the deeper motivations, challenges, and expectations of people working across the ecosystem.
We focused our conversations around 7 key areas:
Background & role – Understanding their work and relationship with textiles
Textile waste handling – How they manage or dispose of textile waste
Experience with upcycling – Whether they’ve reused or bought upcycled products
Problems & gaps – Identifying pain points in the system
Platform reactions – Gauging interest in a digital platform and desired features
Motivations & vision – What drives them toward sustainability
Final thoughts – Suggestions, expectations, and openness to further involvement
These conversations offered rich, practical insights that helped shape our direction. Below are some key takeaways from the interviews.
Interview insights
These two audio clips are from interviews we conducted — moments that truly caught our attention.
Below them are the overall insights we gathered from all the interviews combined.
People want to reduce waste—but don’t always know how.
Most participants are aware of the environmental impact of textile waste but feel helpless about proper disposal.
Some resort to giving clothes to staff or relatives, while others hold on to waste due to lack of better options.
Strong personal values shape what people keep, give, or buy
One interviewee avoids buying used clothes due to beliefs around energy transfer.
Another sees no problem buying thrifted/upcycled clothes if they suit their style.
The decision to donate vs. sell often depends on emotional or monetary value.
First-hand exposure to fashion industry waste left a lasting impact.
Fashion professionals who have seen factory-level waste (like Zara/H&M) express deep concern and a desire for change.
There's interest in rethinking waste through crafts, quilts, or practical household items—not just clothes.
DIY and upcycling is common—but limited to personal circles.
People are upcycling old materials into bags, cleaning cloths, or decor—but aren’t always willing to buy upcycled goods unless quality and transparency are ensured.
There’s openness to a platform—but it must be ethical, accessible, and user-aligned.
Participants showed strong interest in the idea of a platform for donating, upcycling, and accessing second-life materials—especially if it includes donation tracking, quality filters, or transparency in usage.
Thanks for reading!
This is a work-in-progress, and I’ll be sharing more updates as the research and design evolve. Let’s build better solutions together.