The project’s second phase, which will now run until 2026, will have new partners that will enhance the project’s impact, including Sparsha, which will focus on supporting children of waste pickers, and Udhyam Learning Foundation, which will assist over 200 micro-entrepreneurs developed in the first phase.

Additionally, BBC Media Action will continue efforts to raise awareness about the value of waste picking and boost dignity and professional pride within India.

Phase two will expand its focus to textile waste, with plans to upskill waste pickers to become textile entrepreneurs or sorters, creating formal jobs and increasing income opportunities. Collaborating with Circular Apparel Innovation Factory and Enviu, Saamuhika Shakti hopes to divert hundreds of thousands of tonnes of textile waste from landfills while positively impacting hundreds of livelihoods.

Saamuhika Shakti’s focus on collaboration is at the core of the project’s expansion. Partners have integrated joint key performance indicators into the design to ensure the initiative continues to scale.

Last year, the waste picking project resulted in the creation of 152m buttons in India partly made from post-consumer PET waste and were featured on garments that were sold worldwide.

The project aims to support the fashion industry’s shift from a linear to a circular economy by harnessing recycled materials collected by Bengaluru’s waste pickers, such as PET and aluminium, which are already being turned into jewellery and garment buttons for global brands.

On 5 September, the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) and the H&M Foundation officially launched the Open Lab, a new initiative aimed at advancing sustainable practices within the textile and fashion industries.