texfash: A bold claim: You’ve called Liva Reviva M “the future of fashion itself.” What makes this fibre fundamentally different from earlier sustainability efforts — including your own viscose-based innovations — and what was the toughest barrier in bringing a mechanically recycled cellulosic fibre to market?
Manmohan Singh: Liva Reviva M expands Birla Cellulose’s circular portfolio by introducing mechanical textile-to-textile recycling into mainstream man-made cellulosic fibres. Unlike chemical recycling, this route repositions blended post-consumer waste into high-quality products like denim, towels, and home textiles—without additional water or chemicals. The toughest challenge lay in achieving uniformity and performance at scale while maintaining the premium fibre qualities expected by brands.
The press release talks about “rewiring the very DNA of how fashion is made, worn, and reborn.” Could you take us inside that process — how does post-consumer textile waste actually become a high-performance fibre, and what scale of transformation are we looking at?
Manmohan Singh: Post-consumer textile waste is shredded and mechanically processed into a uniform blend that can be spun as Liva Reviva M. The process avoids extra water or chemical use and consumes lower energy. The result: a uniform fibre compatible with OE spinning, designed for 100% use or blends with organic cotton, rPET, or dope-dyed fibre—enabling true circular scalability.
Mechanically recycled fibres often face concerns around consistency, hand-feel, and durability. How have you ensured that Liva Reviva M retains the premium qualities expected by brands while still incorporating up to 50 per cent waste content?
Manmohan Singh: By creating a consistent, uniform blend at the fibre stage rather than the fabric stage. This engineering ensures smooth processing and retains the softness, strength, and premium hand-feel of traditional MMCFs, even with up to 50% recycled content.
Circular fashion sounds ideal in theory, but the collection and segregation of textile waste in India remain rudimentary. How are you closing that loop on the ground—are you partnering with recyclers, brands, or municipalities to ensure a steady, traceable waste stream?
Manmohan Singh: We’re building partnerships across the ecosystem — with recyclers, innovators, and brands — to secure traceable waste streams. Circularity only works when collaboration spans from collection to conversion, and that’s the ecosystem we’re strengthening.
Many companies are experimenting with chemical recycling, while you’ve opted for a mechanical route here. What guided that choice, and what trade-offs come with it in terms of scalability, cost, and environmental footprint?
Manmohan Singh: Both routes have a role to play. Mechanical recycling is resource-efficient and ideal for certain waste streams; chemical recycling is more suited to fibre purification. Reviva M complements our chemical solutions, offering brands a scalable, low-impact pathway to circular products.
