The Guardian presented a slideshow of images from last year's India Recycled exhibition at the Horniman Museum, South London. The photographic exhibition followed the journey of clothes donated to UK charity shops as they are recycled and re-sold in markets of northern India, as well as the contrasting flow of Indian saris and textiles recycled as western fashion items. (Photography by Tim Mitchell, anthropological fieldwork by Lucy Norris.)
Above we see cast-off jumpers, suits and coats which are sorted by colour in large warehouses in Panipat. Labels are removed, clothing is then shredded, pulped and respun into shoddy yarn.
Recycled yarn can be woven or knitted into new products such as blankets, shawls and jumpers.
Interesting to note the re-commodification that arises in these inter-connected global streams of re-use. Also the contrast in what feeds these streams – one end being fed by abundance and the other by scarcity – certainly with no lack of innovation amongst those driven by scarcity.
