India has a wide but unorganised value chain for post-consumer domestic (PCD) waste. Formalised sorting hubs or Textile Recovery Facilities (TRFs) primarily dealing with PCD waste, are at a nascent stage, trying to find their feet within the market by optimising processes at both the demand and supply sides. These TRFs are sorting PCD waste through manual methods. However, despite the waste valorisation potential of these sorting hubs, their returns are limited in certain cases as they are unable to provide good quality waste feedstock and assurance of the material composition to high-grade fibre-to-fibre mechanical recyclers. This gap provides a potential area for the deployment of sorting technologies. 

About 48% of the Post-consumer Domestic Waste (PCD) has the potential to be valorised via formalised sorting hubs. Out of this, 35% of the waste can have better utilisation by adopting semiautomated & automated technologies, leading to a revenue increase of 10%. At an industry level, this translates to 1,380 kilo tonnes of waste and INR 388 Cr (going up to INR 1,348 crores in some cases) of additional revenue in one year. However, an enabling environment needs to be created to make these technologies economically viable for a sorting hub.

The business case presented in this report assesses commercial viability for both semi-automated and automated technologies and validates the hypothesis under five different scenarios. Thus, it demonstrates the infrastructure and investment requirements to valorise the post-consumer textile waste, serving as a framework to enable well-informed decision-making for sorting hubs to implement sorting technologies. 

Climate investing has grown from a niche investment vertical market to a widely recognised market that attracts billions of PE and VC capital globally and in India. In 2023, venture and growth investment into climate totalled $32 billion around the world and $804 million in India. The size of our network reflects the vast opportunity and high levels of enthusiasm. 

Given this step change in the flow of capital, one would assume that the ecosystem in India has evolved and that the continuum of capital functions smoothly, with multiple instruments and funding approaches accessible and affordable for scaling climate innovations.

We decided to unpack this hypothesis in the third India Climate Finance Report and examine what really exists in terms of a continuum, how smooth the handovers are and what’s still missing to enable climate innovation at scale. This report is a combination of survey insights and deep-dives/ guest articles from peers and partners in the ecosystem. With the focus on mapping, this time we’ve requested guest articles from stakeholders working at very specific points/ junctures of the continuum, and asked them to comment on what’s working and what isn’t. We’ve also tried to highlight the opportunity for family offices and emerging foundations with more broad-based/ flexible mandates. Also as always, we have highlighted the role of appropriate and accurate climate impact measurement, as a reflection of the value created.

The Gujarat State Women’s SEWA Cooperative Federation in India is a notable initiative that has inspired similar efforts around the world. SEWA, or the Self-Employed Women's Association, has adopted a dual strategy: organizing poor women workers in the informal economy in a union and promoting women owned cooperatives to empower them. These cooperatives offer improved employment and income generation opportunities, along with a range of services such as financial, insurance and social security services, as well as business and leadership training. Recently, the ILO has received requests from its constituents to better understand SEWA’s approach for potential adaptation and replication in Asia and beyond.

This report aims to explore the challenges and opportunities for cooperatives and other SSE entities in empowering women workers in the informal economy, with a specific focus on the experience of the SEWA Cooperative Federation. It draws on in-depth interviews with cooperative leaders and members, as well as relevant reports and studies. The report examines why and how SEWA has used the cooperative model and discusses the challenges the Federation faces in incubating and supporting women’s cooperatives and collective enterprises. It also features SEWA cooperatives from various sectors, including finance, insurance, childcare, dairy, organic agriculture, healthcare, waste management and cleaning services. Finally, the report identifies lessons learned and good practices that can guide efforts to adapt and replicate similar initiatives in other parts of the world.