The Impact of Waste Management Practices on the Performance of the Apparel, Textile, and Leather Industry: The Indian Case

In the era of globalisation, India became one of the major manufacturing hubs for the global north. In terms of the export share, apparelApparel, textiles, and leather are the leading sectors in the Indian economy. Though the export orientation of this sector has increased rapidly, the production still takes place in an informal set-up, which is less efficient than the formal one in several ways. However, in recent times, compliance with environmental standards has become necessary for manufacturing firms to be competitive in the international market, as many national and international organisations have made efforts to maintain a cleaner production framework. It is challenging for these small, informal enterprises to adhere to these environmental standards, because it will raise the cost of production, drive up the price of the product, and make it difficult to compete in the market. Given this complex milieu, this paper aims to investigate the waste managementWaste management scenario in the apparelApparel, textile, and leather industries in India, especially for the unincorporated enterprises. Also, the study seeks to understand how waste managementWaste management practices (both solid wasteSolid waste and liquid wasteLiquid waste) impact the performance of these unincorporated enterprises. For the empirical analysis, this study used the NSSO 73rd round (2015–16) microdata for unincorporated enterprises. The study tried to portray a comprehensive picture of waste managementWaste management and its impact on the firm performance of informal enterprises in the above-stated sectors by using figures and bivariate and multivariate analysis. The study reveals a positive relationship between the adoption of waste managementWaste management practices and an enterprise’s performance only in the leather industry.