Wool Innovation Challenge

 India’s wool is primarily coarse in nature leading to its higher adoption in manufacturing of products such as Carpets & Rugs over apparels.

• Due to limited availability of fine wool, the country is dependent on imports of fine wool mainly from Australia & New Zealand. The Pashmina wool (fine wool) availability in the colder regions of J&K, Leh etc is limited leading to dependence on imports &/or missing out on achieving the full potential of this segment.

• Through the Innovation Challenge, we invite Startups & MSME’s who can come up with solutions to streamline the supply chain of fine wool, aggregate the supply and support in making sure that domestically produced fine wool is available for manufacturer.

• Given that majority of Indian wool is coarse in nature, efforts are needed in finding out innovative applications of this coarse wool to act as alternative to the common apparel & carpet manufacturing use cases thereby act as newer & potentially sustainable revenue streams for the sector. Startups can explore venturing into this new and upcoming space thereby help build a market for the same in India.

• Some of the alternative coarse wool applications include Pharma Packaging, Insulation Materials, Agro Mulch, Acoustic Panels, etc. We invite startups and MSME’s to come up with commercial products on these focussed use cases.

o Pharma Packaging:

 Wool has the ability for high performance temperature control that can support delivery of pharma products within the specified temperature ranges such as 2-8 degrees & 15-25 degrees as the case maybe.

 Wool can easily absorb any impacts thus acting as a protective layer for the medicinal products. Wool supports with moisture damage as well as it can absorb 40% of its own weight in moisture without feeling wet.

 Wool offers significant space-saving ability & more flexibility than alternatives such as polystyrene as one truckful of wool is equivalent to four truckfuls of polystyrene. Therefore, Wool contributes to a more sustainable distribution, thereby limiting carbon footprint.

 Woolcool are world leaders in the sustainable packaging space ensuring focus on temperature-controlled packaging products. Inspiration should be taken from players such as them in coming up with similar concepts for the Indian market.

o Agro Mulch:

 Wool has a porous shield that helps to reduce weed growth and helps regulate soil temperature i.e. keeps it cool in summer and warm in winter.

 There are studies that suggest that the use of wool as mulch has helped increase fruit yields in strawberries when compared to plants that were manually weeded and treated with a standard herbicide.

 Wool through its properties such as being breathable, high absorption capacity and supplier of key nutrients such as nitrogen support higher Agro productivity than the usage of plastics.

 As per industry, plastic used in Agro mulch costs ~ ₹12-13 /sq m along with ₹2-3 labour cost. Thus, replacing plastic with wool will be a good value add if a competitive cost can also be offered.

o Insulation Materials for Beddings, Building etc:

• For the wool industry to grow & thrive, introduction of newer technologies is essential. Cost effective technologies that focus on improving the overall wool value chain are critical. We invite startups and MSME’s who can come up with any cost-effective innovative technologies which improves any of the processes in the wool value chain

• For eg, Woolmark Australia is working on the product development through various technological interventions in the processing space such as

o 3D printing on base fabrics,

o ozone treatment to make wool garments machine washable,

o natural colouration technology wherein it has collaborated with a company that offers 200 natural ingredients for dyeing purposes,

o chemical-free water-resistant spinning technology,

o circular & flat knitting technology that eliminates need for cut & sew, minimize wastage etc.

• Taking inspiration from the above tech- innovations, Startups to be targeted to showcase innovative & cost-effective techniques for the different processes in the wool value chain.

• Any environment friendly processing innovations on the wool processing could be submitted. Many processing technologies in stages such as dyeing, cleaning etc of wool releases chemicals into the environment. This needs to be eliminated in the long run through innovative and cost effective technology.

• The above technologies can be supported through the creation of Common Facility Centres in 6-7 key clusters in the long run.

• To ensure the authenticity of the wool being sourced, it is essential to have agencies offering certificates/standards as that is a key area that is of growing interest across the global wool industry.

• Certifications like Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) and adoption of Industry initiatives like National Wool Declaration Integrity Program are on the rise globally as they promote traceability and transparency across the supply chain.

• Low-cost technology intervention to support traceability of wool in the value chain using DNA evaluation etc is needed. We invite startups which can come up with innovative and cost effective technologies that can ensure traceability and authenticity of wool for different participants in the wool-value chain

• We invite Startups & MSME’s that can support creating awareness about wool, different wool products, its applications, etc and ensure that the various innovations in the wool sector reach the target markets. The startups should also shape the consumer behaviour towards wool products by appealing to the overall sustainability sentiment.

• As an example, Centre for Pastoralism India’s (CfP) ‘Desi Oon’ initiative has been set up to provide visibility to the indigenous wool products of India, strengthen the native wool value chain, and develop wool-based livelihoods across the country. The CfP and its brand ‘Desi Oon’ have managed a good social media outreach through various online social media platforms and offline events that include large, wide-ranging public exhibitions, thematically focused consultations with pastoralists, policy-makers, academic workshops and conferences and product exhibitions related to wool products.

• Taking inspiration from the above initiative, Startups can be engaged to offer similar marketing & awareness solutions. The solutions could be different such as gamification, NFT’s, loyalty programs etc

• The overall focus on the need for sustainability among citizens has increased. But many are unaware of what they can do to contribute to the overall cause of sustainability by way of responsible consumption. If the wool economy has to expand, market has to expand, and more consumers need to make a conscious choice of buying sustainable products.

• Wool related waste can come from multiple source – it could be production waste or it could be waste from discarded consumer goods such as woolen carpets / cloths

• We would like to invite startups / MSME’s which can make useful products out of the wool-waste so as to augment the overall sustainability and circular economy aspects.

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