Bengaluru’s garment boom leaves toxic trail, 5000 tonnes of textile waste annually: Study
Bengaluru: Bengaluru, often hailed as the “garment capital” of India, is grappling with a mounting textile waste crisis, generating an estimated 5,000 tonnes of fabric waste each year, according to a new study by the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC).
The study, cited by Deccan Herald on Sunday, highlights a growing environmental concern linked to Bengaluru’s thriving garment sector, as the city struggles to manage the overwhelming volume of discarded clothes and fabric scraps, underscoring the urgent need for a shift towards a circular economy.
Researchers S. Manasi, Channamma Kambara, and Mrinalini Goswami identified the absence of a centralised textile waste database as a governance gap. Although agencies like the Department of Handlooms and Textiles (DHT) and the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) maintain fragmented records, their focus is limited to regulatory compliance rather than holistic waste management.
This approach has left a large portion of the issue unaddressed. While large export-oriented factories typically manage their textile waste more systematically, the same cannot be said for thousands of small-scale tailoring units and local shops. These smaller players often dispose of fabric scraps alongside regular trash, worsening the burden on an already strained waste system.
The ISEC study also traced the post-disposal journey of collected textile waste. Around 40% is sent to recycling hubs like Tiruppur and Panipat, while another 20% is downcycled locally into items such as mattresses and soft toys. However, these products have a short lifespan, usually under a decade, after which they are burned or end up in landfills, contributing to pollution.
One of the most alarming findings is the unsegregated mixing of hazardous industrial cotton waste with general garbage, leading to toxic emissions when the waste is burned. The study points out the high environmental cost of this linear model, noting that over 75% of waste is burnt, releasing toxic emissions.
Meanwhile, a large share of the labour involved in waste sorting is handled by informal sector workers, predominantly women. The report notes that these workers operate in unsafe conditions, lacking protective gear, basic facilities, and social support.
The report calls for a national textile waste management policy and the implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) frameworks, which would hold manufacturers accountable for the lifecycle of their products.
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Robert Duvall, Oscar-winning actor and 'Godfather' mainstay, dead at 95
Los Angeles (AP): Robert Duvall, the Oscar-winning actor of matchless versatility and dedication whose classic roles included the intrepid consigliere of the first two "Godfather" movies and the over-the-hill country music singer in "Tender Mercies," has died at age 95.
Duvall died “peacefully” at his home Sunday in Middleburg, Virginia, according to an announcement from his publicist and from a statement posted on his Facebook page by his wife, Luciana Duvall.
“To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything,” Luciana Duvall wrote. “His passion for his craft was matched only by his deep love for characters, a great meal, and holding court. For each of his many roles, Bob gave everything to his characters and to the truth of the human spirit they represented."
The bald, wiry Duvall didn't have leading man looks, but few "character actors" enjoyed such a long, rewarding and unpredictable career, in leading and supporting roles, from an itinerant preacher to Josef Stalin.
Beginning with his 1962 film debut as Boo Radley, the reclusive neighbor in "To Kill a Mockingbird," Duvall created a gallery of unforgettable portrayals.
They earned him seven Academy Award nominations and the best actor prize for "Tender Mercies," which came out in 1983. He also won four Golden Globes, including one for playing the philosophical cattle-drive boss in the 1989 miniseries "Lonesome Dove," a role he often cited as his favorite.
In 2005, Duvall was awarded a National Medal of Arts.
He had been acting for some 20 years when "The Godfather," released in 1972, established him as one of the most in-demand performers of Hollywood. He had made a previous film, "The Rain People," with Francis Coppola, and the director chose him to play Tom Hagen in the mafia epic that featured Al Pacino and Marlon Brando among others.
Duvall was a master of subtlety as an Irishman among Italians, rarely at the centre of a scene, but often listening and advising in the background, an irreplaceable thread through the saga of the Corleone crime family.
“Stars and Italians alike depend on his efficiency, his tidying up around their grand gestures, his being the perfect shortstop on a team of personality sluggers,” wrote the critic David Thomson. “Was there ever a role better designed for its actor than that of Tom Hagen in both parts of The Godfather?'”
In another Coppola film, "Apocalypse Now," Duvall was wildly out front, the embodiment of deranged masculinity as Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore, who with equal vigour enjoyed surfing and bombing raids on the Viet Cong. Duvall required few takes for one of the most famous passages in movie history, barked out on the battlefield by a bare-chested, cavalry-hatted Kilgore: "I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn't find one of em, not one stinkin' dink body.
"The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like — victory.”
Coppola once commented about Duvall: "Actors click into character at different times — the first week, third week. Bobby's hot after one or two takes."
