Implementation of an AI-Assisted Textile Waste Valorization Platform for Circular Fashion Ecosystems
Keywords:
AI-assisted textile waste, Artificial Intelligence, Digital platform. Digital solutions, Material accessibility, Raw materialsAbstract
The textile and apparel industry generates a significant amount of pre-consumer fabric waste during manufacturing processes such as cutting, stitching, and finishing. Although much of this waste retains functional and aesthetic value, it is often discarded due to the lack of structured reuse mechanisms. At the same time, artisan communities engaged in craft-based and sustainable fashion practices face ongoing challenges in accessing affordable and consistent raw materials. This gap between waste generation and material demand highlights the need for effective digital solutions that support reuse and circular fashion. This paper presents PunarVastra, an AI-assisted textile waste valorization platform designed to connect textile factories with artisans through a lightweight and accessible digital ecosystem. The platform allows factories to upload images and basic details of fabric scraps, which are processed using an AI-assisted analysis module to generate standardized descriptors such as color and texture. These classified materials are then made available through a digital marketplace, enabling artisans to easily browse, evaluate, and reuse suitable textiles for their craft and production needs. The system is implemented using a web-based frontend, a Flask-based backend, and a simulation-driven AI module to ensure compatibility with resource-constrained environments. Experimental evaluation demonstrates that the platform effectively supports digital documentation, classification, and retrieval of textile waste with minimal computational overhead. The proposed solution highlights the potential of combining digital platforms and AI-assisted processes to reduce textile waste, improve material accessibility, and promote sustainable and circular fashion practices.
References
M. Murzyn-Kupisz and D. Hołuj, “Fashion Design Education and Sustainability: Towards an Equilibrium between Craftsmanship and Artistic and Business Skills,” Education Sciences, vol. 11, no. 9, p. 531, Sep. 2021
K. S. Kumar and M. R. Bai, “LSTM based texture classification and defect detection in a fabric,” Measurement: Sensors, vol. 26, p. 100603, Dec. 2022
M. I. Misnon and S. A. Bahari, “The mechanical properties of textile fabrics reinforced hybrid composites,” 2010 International Conference on Science and Social Research (CSSR 2010), Dec. 2010
N. Pensupa et al., “Recent Trends in Sustainable Textile Waste Recycling Methods: Current Situation and Future Prospects,” Topics in Current Chemistry Collections, pp. 189–228, 2017
B. S. Anami and M. C. Elemmi, “A Rule-Based Approach for Classification of Shades of Basic Colors of Fabric Images,” International Journal of Signal Processing, Image Processing and Pattern Recognition, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 389–400, Feb. 2015,
N. Nørup, K. Pihl, A. Damgaard, and C. Scheutz, “Development and testing of a sorting and quality assessment method for textile waste,” Waste Management, vol. 79, pp. 8–21, Sep. 2018
R. Pandey, P. Pandit, S. Pandey, and S. Mishra, “Solutions for Sustainable Fashion and Textile Industry,” Recycling from Waste in Fashion and Textiles, pp. 33–72, Jun. 2020
B. Zhang and C. Tang, “Study on Detection Method of Low Contrast Fabric Defects Image Based on Regional Variation Saliency,” 2019 IEEE 4th Advanced Information Technology, Electronic and Automation Control Conference (IAEAC), vol. 1, pp. 1103–1106, Dec. 2019
Y. Li, D. Zhang, and D.-J. Lee, “Automatic fabric defect detection with a wide-and-compact network,” Neurocomputing, vol. 329, pp. 329–338, Feb. 2019
G. Sandin and G. M. Peters, “Environmental Impact of Textile Reuse and Recycling – a Review,” Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 184, no. 184, pp. 353–365, May 2018
T. B. D. Phung and T.-A. Nguyen, “Reusing Fabric Scraps in Garment Industry - A Green Manufacturing Process,” 2020 5th International Conference on Green Technology and Sustainable Development (GTSD), Nov. 2020
S. Liu, Y. K. Liu, K. C. Lo, and C. Kan, “Intelligent techniques and optimization algorithms in textile colour management: a systematic review of applications and prediction accuracy,” Fashion and Textiles, vol. 11, no. 1, Mar. 2024,
X. Zhang and Z. Zhou, “Classifying colour differences in dyed fabrics using an improved hunger games search optimised random vector functional link,” Journal of Engineered Fibers and Fabrics, vol. 17, Jan. 2022
R. Aprianti, K. Evandari, R. A. Pramunendar, and Moch. Soeleman, “Comparison of Classification Method on Lombok Songket Woven Fabric Based on Histogram Feature,” 2021 International Seminar on Application for Technology of Information and Communication (iSemantic), pp. 196–200, Sep. 2021
Kuldeep, S. Saini, P. Singh, and R. Singh, “Integrated Online Framework for Waste Management,” 2019 International Conference on Innovative Sustainable Computational Technologies (CISCT), pp. 1–4, Oct. 2019
R. Pandey, P. Pandit, S. Pandey, and S. Mishra, “Solutions for Sustainable Fashion and Textile Industry,” Recycling from Waste in Fashion and Textiles, pp. 33–72, Jun. 2020,
N. Naik, “Survey on Textile Waste Valorization for a Circular Fashion Ecosystem,” International Journal on Science and Technology (IJSAT) IJSAT26019927, vol. 17, no. 1, 2026, Accessed: Feb. 25, 2026.
N. C. Santosh Kumar, S. Uma Maheswari, Vigneshwari. M, P. V. Pramila, R. Khilar, and A. Kumar, “Colour based Object Classification using KNN Algorithm for Industrial Applications,” 2022 International Conference on Automation, Computing and Renewable Systems (ICACRS), pp. 1110–1115, Dec. 2022.
L. Cheng, J. Yi, A. Chen, and Y. Zhang, “Fabric defect detection based on separate convolutional UNet,” Multimedia Tools and Applications, Jul. 2022
V. G. Pratheep, A. Muralidharan, N. P. i Rajan, and M. K. Suganesh, “Design and Fabrication of Waste Fabric Segregation System,” 2023 9th International Conference on Electrical Energy Systems (ICEES), Mar. 2023
M. Kashif Nazir, A. Nawaz, A. Ashraf, and S. M. Alam, “A Textile Image Classification based on Texture and Shape Features,” 2021 International Conference on Innovative Computing (ICIC), Nov. 2021
R. Aus, H. Moora, M. Vihma, R. Unt, M. Kiisa, and S. Kapur, “Designing for circular fashion: integrating upcycling into conventional garment manufacturing processes,” Fashion and Textiles, vol. 8, no. 1, Nov. 2021
C. Zhang, Y. Qi, and Y. Wang, “Learning the Color Space for Effective Fabric Defect Detection,” IEEE Transactions on Emerging Topics in Computational Intelligence, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 981–991, Feb. 2024
S. Lee, Y. Han, and C. Yun, “Development of a fabric classification system using drapability and tactile characteristics,” Fashion and Textiles, vol. 11, no. 1, Jan. 2024
A. Amelio, “Defining a deep neural network ensemble for identifying fabric colors,” Applied Soft Computing, vol. 130, p. 109687, Nov. 2022
M. Mao, A. Lee, and M. Hong, “Efficient Fabric Classification and Object Detection Using YOLOv10,” Electronics, vol. 13, no. 19, pp. 3840–3840, Sep. 2024
