Experts stress alignment of textile recycling industry with global compliance standards

FAISALABAD, Mar 07 (APP):The leading industry experts, academics and sustainability stakeholders have stressed for alignment of Pakistan’s rapidly expanding textile recycling sector with emerging global compliance requirements in addition to strengthen its visibility in international markets for exploiting its full potential.
They were addressing a major stakeholder dialogue titled “Recycling in Textiles: Way Forward for Pakistan” held at Satiana Industrial Association, where more than 100 delegates from industry, academia and allied sectors deliberated on strategies to strengthen textile circularity, improve compliance readiness and integrate Pakistan’s recycling ecosystem with evolving global regulatory frameworks.
National Textile University Faisalabad (NTUF) under its Sustainable Manufacturing and Environmental Pollution (SMEP) Program organized the dialogue in collaboration with Satiana Industrial Association, the University of Kamalia, Reverse Resources and KnowTex.
The event received institutional support from UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), UK International Development, World Wide Fund (WWF), Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI), All Pakistan Bed-Sheets & Upholstery Manufacturers Association (APBUMA), Institute of Engineers Pakistan (IEP), MB Recycling and Closed Loop Fashion.
The delegations representing major recycling clusters including Satiana, Dajkot and Tata Bazaar participated in the session while the stakeholders involved in waste-handling operations from Ganesh Mill and Muridke clusters also attended.
The speakers highlighted that Satiana alone hosts more than 106 textile recycling units, reflecting the scale, economic significance and employment potential of the recycling industry within Pakistan’s textile value chain.
The dialogue focused on interpreting global regulatory and market signals shaping textile recycling, assessing the commercial scale of existing recycling practices in Pakistan and identifying key gaps in data availability, standardization and compliance readiness.
A panel discussion moderated by Dr. Muzzamal Hussain of NTUF served as central feature of the event and brought together prominent voices from academia and the textile industry.
The panel included Vice Chancellor University of Kamalia Prof. Dr. Yasir Nawab, GM Marketing Beacon Impex Iftikhar-ul-Hassan, GM Corporate Sustainability and Chemical Management Interloop Limited Muhammad Fauz-ul-Azeem, GM Spinning and Recycling Sadaqat Textiles Limited Rao Zia-ur-Rehman, Convener Council of Textiles FCCI and former APBUMA chairman Arif Ehsan Malik, Information Secretary Satiana Industrial Association Muzamal Saeed Bajwa and Program Manager Reverse Resources Pakistan Manzoor Hashmi.
The panelists observed that international brands and export markets are rapidly moving towards strict and non-negotiable compliance frameworks, particularly in areas such as traceability, environmental reporting and responsible production systems.
They emphasized that Pakistani manufacturers and recyclers must accelerate progress in digital traceability systems, chemical management protocols, wastewater treatment technologies and worker safety standards to remain competitive in global supply chains.
The experts also highlighted technical challenges faced by the recycling and spinning sectors including contamination in raw material, limitations in fiber length and variability in blended textile waste, factors that significantly influence product quality and its acceptance in international markets.
The participants stressed that digitization of operations and the development of reliable cluster-level data systems could significantly enhance international recognition of Pakistan’s recycling ecosystem.
They warned that inadequate documentation and weak data infrastructure may keep Pakistan’s recycling value chain largely invisible to global buyers despite its large-scale operations.
The dialogue concluded with a shared commitment by stakeholders to collectively promote Faisalabad’s recycling capabilities at the international level and position Pakistan as a credible player in the evolving global circular economy.
The participants appreciated the initiative of National Textile University Faisalabad and acknowledged the coordination efforts of Muzamal Saeed Bajwa in organizing the event.
It was also announced that the next dialogue session would be held after Eid under the Council of Textiles platform at Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry and hosted by Arif Ehsan Malik.