Vadodara: Turning handloom waste into sustainable everyday products has recently earned a team of students from the Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU) a silver medal at the Handloom Hackathon-2026 held at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi.The winning team from the department of textile chemistry from the faculty of technology and engineering, comprising Nikita Sonaiya, Chhabishree Maher and Shubham Kumar Maher, developed thermal-insulated water bottles and tiffin bags using recycled handloom waste.Their project was presented under the theme ‘Sustainability & Environmental Impact’ at the nationwide innovation competition organised by ThinkStartup for the development commissioner (handlooms), Union ministry of textiles.The students combined recycled handloom materials with natural dyes, traditional block printing and coir sheets to create functional products aimed at reducing textile waste.The project sought to demonstrate how discarded handloom material could be given a new life through sustainable product development while retaining traditional Indian textile techniques.It was undertaken under the guidance of assistant professors Keval J Umrigar, Riddhi H Panchal and Ankita V Upadhyay of the department of textile chemistry.The project also attempted to bridge traditional textile practices with contemporary sustainability needs, using handloom waste as a resource for developing utility products rather than treating it as discarded material.
