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Retaining product value in post-consumer textiles: How to scale a closed-loop system
... Given that nearly two thirds of global textile production capacity is located in Asia, a recent debate has emerged among European actors concerning the configurational decisions of the RSCs (Charnley et al., 2024;Sandberg and Pal, 2024). In other words, European RSC actors must decide whether to locate reverse operations in proximity to waste collection (i.e. ...
... In the context of textile-to-textile recycling technology, two primary approaches stand out: mechanical and chemical recycling. Mechanical recycling involves cutting and shredding fabrics to create new yarn, offering a sustainable alternative with lower energy usage compared to virgin fiber production (Charnley et al., 2024). An emerging innovation, "soft" mechanical recycling, enhances fiber quality and quantity by minimizing length reduction (McKinsey, 2022). ...
... Literature on F&T RSCs have tackled different topics such as mapping the main actors involved, identifying their barriers and drivers for further CE implementation (Zanjirani Farahani et al., 2022;Zhuravleva and Aminoff, 2021), exploring capabilities to facilitate CE implementation (Sandberg, 2023), and the process of value creation and appropriation (Sandberg et al., 2018). Although none of these studies have explicitly investigated RSC configurations, insight on RSC configurations can be deducted from the case study description (Charnley et al., 2024;Dissanayake and Pal, 2023;Jäämaa and Kaipia, 2022). ...
... Adopting a circular economy (CE) model in the fashion industry represents a significant paradigm shift aimed at extending the lifecycle of materials through recycling, reuse, and efficient resource management (Thinakaran et al., 2023;Suarez-Visbal et al., 2024). Moving away from the traditional "take-make-dispose" model, the CE approach promotes a system where materials are perpetually recycled, minimizing waste and enhancing resource efficiency (Moreau et al., 2017;Charnley et al., 2024). ...
... Despite growing consumer interest in sustainable clothing, significant hurdles remain in fully implementing circular practices. One major challenge is the limited availability of textile-to-textile (T-T) recycling facilities, which currently account for only a small fraction of global textile production (Charnley et al., 2024;de Hugo et al., 2022;Marques et al., 2020). To truly foster a sustainable fashion ecosystem, it is essential to expand the T-T recycling sector. ...
... Green practices that reduce material waste and integrate eco-friendly technologies are at the forefront of efforts to mitigate climate change (de Nariê Rinke Dias et al., 2022;Sinha et al., 2021;Akhtar & Suki, 2022). Circular fashion models that promote textile reuse and recycling offer strategies to minimize the industry's environmental footprint and enhance climate action efforts (Moreau et al., 2017;Charnley et al., 2024). ...
The relocation of textile and apparel manufacturing to the Global South has served as a double-edged sword, spurring economic development while simultaneously contributing to environmental degradation, thus creating a potentially irreparable imbalance that threatens the well-being of future generations in the region. This chapter offers a comprehensive exploration of environmental sustainability within the Textile and Apparel Global Value Chain (T&A GVC), with a particular focus on the critical role played by suppliers in the Global South. By leveraging a novel analytical GVC framework enriched with insights from international business (IB) and environmental justice (EJ) literature, this chapter seeks to address significant gaps in current research, especially the underutilization of these theoretical perspectives in the study of sustainability practices.
Four key research gaps are identified: the limited integration of IB and GVC theories in sustainability studies, the underappreciated relevance of EJ principles in GVC analyses, the insufficient focus on the governance role of suppliers in the Global South, and the lack of incorporation of planetary boundaries in sustainability assessments. To bridge these gaps, this chapter introduces an innovative analytical GVC framework, with three extensions, that provides a holistic approach to understanding environmental sustainability within the T&A GVC. This framework facilitates a detailed examination of the six dimensions of GVCs—input-output structures, geographic and industrial reach, governance mechanisms, paths for upgrading, industry stakeholders, and institutional dynamics—emphasizing their interconnectedness and the complexity of promoting sustainability across the value chain.
By advancing a framework that integrates diverse empirical and conceptual studies, this chapter makes a significant contribution to the literature. It challenges the traditional focus on lead firms and advocates for a more inclusive understanding of sustainability that incorporates the perspectives of suppliers from the Global South. The findings underscore the necessity of adopting a holistic approach to GVCs, one that concurrently considers economic, social, and environmental dimensions to achieve sustainable development. The chapter concludes by offering recommendations for future research and practical strategies for stakeholders, aligning environmental sustainability practices with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).
... Current methods often exclude low-grade materials and natural fibres, focusing on high-quality synthetics like polyester. FFN+ is developing economically viable recycling solutions that reclaim materials from all types of textile waste, reducing reliance on virgin resources and mitigating pollution (Charnley et al. 2024). ...
The environmental impact of textile fibres, particularly their contribution to pollution, has become a pressing concern. While synthetic fibres such as polyester shed microplastic fibres during washing and use, recent studies reveal that natural and semi-synthetic fibres also contribute to environmental pollution depending on material blends, weaving methods and the chemicals used. This case study considers the Future Fibres Network Plus (FFN+) which is a UK-based initiative dedicated to integrating environmental science into the heart of the fashion, apparel and textile industries. It aims to address these challenges by integrating environmental sciences into design and developing circular strategies to minimize fibre loss, reduce textile waste and mitigate ecological impacts across fibre life cycles. This article explores microfibre pollution, highlights the role of FFN+ and identifies gaps in research and opportunities for circular innovation.
... It should be further highlighted that post-consumer or household textile waste is more difficult to collect because it comes from many individual sources and must be separated from regular municipal waste to be of use [211]. A large portion of textile waste is currently still collected without separation from municipal waste. ...
The growing environmental impact of textile waste, fueled by the rapid rise in global fiber production, underscores the urgent need for sustainable end-of-life solutions. This review explores cutting-edge pathways for textile waste management, spotlighting innovations that reduce reliance on incineration and landfilling while driving material circularity. It highlights advancements in collection, sorting, and pretreatment technologies, as well as both established and emerging recycling methods. Smart collection systems utilizing tags and sensors show great promise in streamlining logistics by automating pick-up routes and transactions. For sorting, automated technologies like near-infrared and hyperspectral imaging lead the way in accurate and scalable fiber separation. Automated disassembly techniques are effective at removing problematic elements, though other pretreatments, such as color and finish removal, still need to be customized for specific waste streams. Mechanical fiber recycling is ideal for textiles with strong mechanical properties but has limitations, particularly with blended fabrics, and cannot be repeated endlessly. Polymer recycling—through melting or dissolving waste polymers—produces higher-quality recycled materials but comes with high energy and solvent demands. Chemical recycling, especially solvolysis and pyrolysis, excels at breaking down synthetic polymers like polyester, with the potential to yield virgin-quality monomers. Meanwhile, biological methods, though still in their infancy, show promise for recycling natural fibers like cotton and wool. When other methods are not viable, gasification can be used to convert waste into synthesis gas. The review concludes that the future of sustainable textile recycling hinges on integrating automated sorting systems and advancing solvent-based and chemical recycling technologies. These innovations, supported by eco-design principles, progressive policies, and industry collaboration, are essential to building a resilient, circular textile economy.
... Under the 2015 Paris climate agreement, many countries have committed to achieving Net Zero emissions by 2050 by transitioning towards more sustainable and circular production models (Abbate et al., 2024). These models aim to reduce reliance on virgin resources, to prolong the lifespan of garments and to shift towards renewable energy sources and less toxic materials (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017;Charnley et al., 2024). This context has led to an increased interest in developing technologies to manage and recycle clothes at the end-of-life. ...
... These goals provide a roadmap for achieving a more sustainable future. Thus, the shift towards sustainability and circularity is not merely a trend but a fundamental imperative for the future viability of the fashion industry, necessitating collaborative efforts from all stakeholders across the supply chain (Charnley et al., 2024). ...
The fashion industry is a significant driver of cultural, societal, and economic growth worldwide, but its traditional linear approach has led to negative environmental and social impacts. This study addresses the need to transition towards sustainable and circular practices by exploring the relationship between management strategies and behaviours across the fashion value chain. Through 10 semi-structured interviews with top industry decision-makers, thematic analysis revealed eight core themes, including collaborations, marketing strategies, product-related characteristics, education and awareness, business models, integration of technology, regulations and legislation, and strategic planning. The study provides targeted recommendations for stakeholders to promote a more sustainable and circular behaviour in the fashion industry. For instance, it emphasises strategic partnerships with suppliers, waste management companies, and consumers to minimise waste and promote circularity across the value chain. It urges the adoption of sustainable materials and eco-friendly designs for environmentally conscious consumers and encourages visual storytelling for transparency. Additionally, the study highlights the need for circular business models, recommending on-demand and made-to-measure manufacturing to align production with demand and reduce overproduction. Offering end-of-life strategies such as take-back programs, recycling initiatives, and repair services extends product lifecycles and creates sustainable value. Integrating advanced technologies such as digital IDs improves supply chain transparency and accountability. These actionable recommendations guided the development of a comprehensive framework for the practical application of sustainable and circular practices across the value chain, offering industry practitioners, researchers and policymakers effective strategies for driving impactful change within the fashion industry.
The circular economy in textiles requires a transformative lifecycle, starting with design and emphasizing durability, long life, and reuse or recycling. Changes in consumer, public, industry, and authority preferences, such as product sharing, renting, or buying as a service, are necessary to increase utilization while maintaining economic viability. The textile sector has a significant environmental impact due to its linear and intricate nature, including the cultivation of natural fibers, spinning and sizing fabrics, fine-tuning, printing, and dyeing of finished products. The textile manufacturing process in Europe has a significant impact on agricultural land and the alteration of natural land, especially in relation to natural fibers like cotton. The textile industry accounts for 30–50% of greenhouse gas emissions from the supply chain, positioning textiles as the sixth most environmentally detrimental category among home products in the European Union. The establishment of a textile circular economy requires inventive corporate strategies, environmental practices, and legislative measures throughout the entire value chain. Circular economy principles encompass several stages of a product's life cycle, including design, production, marketing, consumption, waste management, reusing, and recycling. To achieve a sustainable transition, substantial modifications are required throughout all phases of the product's life cycle. The efficacy of circular business models heavily relies on the capabilities of the supply chain and network infrastructure. The integration of circular economy ideas into a company's long-term strategy and implementation necessitates a fundamental transformation inside the organization. Digital technologies, such as IT devices, robots, and mobile applications, have the potential to support a transition towards circular economy, improving product design, consumer engagement, and service offerings. Future studies should prioritize the use of digital technologies in the textile and garment industry, specifically in the domain of circular economy (CE), such as smart mirrors, 3D printing, and AI.
Embracing a circular economy in the textile industry represents a crucial step toward sustainability, where fashion and textile sectors contribute significantly to CO2 emissions. However, transitioning from a linear "take-make-waste" model to circularity, poses multifaceted challenges, that highlight the staggering volume of annual textile waste surpassing industry predictions, thus emphasizing the urgent need for comprehensive strategies. Despite advancements in recycling technologies, challenges persist in collecting and sorting textile waste, where fragmentation in waste management and recycling processes hinders effective management of post-consumer waste. Addressing these challenges demands elevated efforts in collection, sorting, and pre-processing, alongside regulatory interventions to drive enhanced waste collection and circular business models. Efforts are underway to promote sustainable textile recycling, with initiatives like the EU's Sustainable and Circular Textiles Strategy aiming to reduce reliance on virgin resources. However, achieving a circular textile market in the near future requires collaborative action and innovative solutions. Though challenges in scaling and technological limitations still remain, recent breakthroughs in textile-recycling technologies offer promise, signaling a shift toward scalable and sustainable alternatives to virgin fibers, where bio-based chemical processes, and thermochemical recycling processes present transformative opportunities. Where, bold scaling targets, collaborative efforts, and short-term funding support narrated in this perspective article are imperative to accelerate the transition to a circular textile economy, thus delving into the pivotal role of textile recycling, tracing the evolution of recycling technologies, and addressing critical challenges hindering widespread adoption.
The textile industry is causing environmental impacts, driven by consumption patterns and fast fashion. Here we explore how the closing of material loops can decrease the environmental impacts of clothing consumption. We analyze the clothing system of Norwegian households in 2018 by combining material flow analysis and life cycle assessment. We map the flows to explore this linear system, where most garments are acquired new and leave the system through incineration or export. We develop an alternative scenario, where the circularity increases from 5% to 74%, considering consumer willingness to rent various garment types or buy them secondhand. We reduce the climate change impacts by 57%, water scarcity by 62%, and cumulative energy demand by 47% by assuming a proper set-up of the alternative system and a change in shopping and disposal behavior. Such measures allow to keep the same consumption levels; further reductions require lowering the number of acquisitions.
Although the accumulation of post-consumer textile waste represents a serious environmental problem, the commercial potential of recycling this waste in the US is less established. The purpose of this research is to investigate the business case for using this waste as an input to textile-to-textile recycling. This research has three main objectives: explore the dynamics between post-consumer waste traders and recyclers; investigate challenges to faster scaling of textile waste feedstocks and the processing of this waste into new fibers; and provide theoretical and practical foundations for effective interventions in this area. The study employs a grounded theory approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eleven senior representatives from textile sorting and fiber recycling organizations with operations in the US. The results reveal that the primary barriers to progress are commercial in nature. There is no financial incentive to take actions needed to reduce environmental impact. As proposed, an expansion of market partnerships to broaden target feedstocks could allow the mounting waste problem to be meaningfully addressed. However, it is still unclear how infrastructure development in the US will be financed or conducted to address the identified barriers. Meanwhile, accumulation of textile waste in US landfills shows no signs of slowing down.
The fashion industry in its current linear business model of fast-fashion (“Depeche-Mode”) is one of today’s most unsustainable global businesses with textile production alone, significantly contributing to global greenhouse gas emissions. This scoping review utilises systematic techniques to collect data that evidences research on environmental impacts of the fashion and textile industry. This review collates information on how a fashion industry that utilises circular economic principles, could influence behaviour towards reduced carbon emissions, energy consumption and pollution. This scoping review provides examples of how transitioning to a fashion industry using circular economic principles has potential to make the industry more sustainable. A circular fashion economy, its various models for regenerative design, leasing, recycling and repurposing of clothing and textiles along with innovations and strategies towards a circular fashion economy are considered via best practice examples in the review. This scoping review indicates that the future of fashion becoming circular can enable a low impact value chain; however, significant independent research into the fashion industry is required as most research to date is being conducted by the fashion industry itself. It concludes, on balance, that the fashion industry when utilising circular economic principles is capable of sustainable change, but further investigation is needed to fully elucidate how the fashion industry can meet key emissions targets, therefore reducing climate impact and enhancing sustainability. This scoping review paves the way for further independent research questions to be developed to determine if a new industry model can reach a specified target level of decarbonisation.
The academic literature offers some insights about lagging progress on circular economy (CE) transition, including cultural, regulatory, market, and technical barriers. There is also an increasing body of knowledge about barriers to CE adoption that takes a macro-level perspective across industries. However, such studies have largely neglected the industry scale. This study fills that gap by examining barriers to CE transition in the Dutch technical and interior textiles industries. Using data from 27 interviews with manufacturers and retailers, the study finds that high costs for production and marketing, along with lack of consumer interest, are among the most substantial barriers. To provide a system-wide perspective, the study conceptualizes relationships among barriers as a chain reaction: limited knowledge of CE design options raises the difficulty and cost of delivering high-quality circular products at the firm level, while limited availability of circular supply streams combined with the orientation of existing production systems toward linear supply chains constrain CE transition at the industry level. These findings highlight the need for intervention at levels beyond the scale of individual firms, a key implication for public policy.
Motivated by the commonly observed commercial used apparel collection (UAC) programs in the fashion retail supply chain operations, this paper analytically explores the associated operational challenges that firms face. First, in the basic model, we consider the case when a fashion retail brand promotes its UAC program and collects the used apparel from consumers. Depending on the conditions of the collected apparel products, the fashion retail brand will classify and either donate them for charity or send them to remanufacturing. For either case, the fashion retail brand gains a benefit. We analytically derive in closed-form the optimal promotion effort and study the mechanism for “profit” coordination. Our results indicate that many traditional supply chain contracts fail to achieve “profit” coordination. Thus, the effort cost sharing (ECS) contract is proposed and proven to be effective for “profit” coordination. Finally, to check the robustness of findings from the basic model, we examine various UAC practice related extended models, such as i) consumer coupon offering, ii) “no remanufacturing” model, iii) consumer heterogeneity in environmental consciousness, iv) own-brand collection vs any-brand collection. Our findings show that the qualitative insights continue to hold in the extended scenarios. Some novel scenario-dependent findings are also obtained. Insights derived in this paper not only contribute to the literature but also provide scientifically sound managerial guidance and insights to practitioners on how UAC programs can be best operated.
In order to add value to recycled textile material and to guarantee that the input material for recycling processes is of adequate quality, it is essential to be able to accurately recognise and sort items according to their material content. Therefore, there is a need for an economically viable and effective way to recognise and sort textile materials. Automated recognition and sorting lines provide a method for ensuring better quality of the fractions being recycled and thus enhance the availability of such fractions for recycling. The aim of this study was to deepen the understanding of NIR spectroscopy technology in the recognition of textile materials by studying the effects of structural fabric properties on the recognition. The identified properties of fabrics that led non-matching recognition were coating and finishing that lead different recognition of the material depending on the side facing the NIR analyser. In addition, very thin fabrics allowed NIRS to penetrate through the fabric and resulted in the non-matching recognition. Additionally, ageing was found to cause such chemical changes, especially in the spectra of cotton, that hampered the recognition.
The textile and fashion industry has had significant technological developments but is currently criticised for its environmental and social impacts and for being a major contributor to waste. The rise of the circular economy (CE) has promoted more sustainable concepts, including the trending of recycling strategies to add value to the textile and plastic waste. However, adding value to products and for users implies technical upscaling and clear communication about the benefits of recycling. This paper presents a systematic literature review (SLR) and explores the state of the art of recycled textiles (RT) and circular fashion (CF) as perceived by humans. The literature review was performed on the basis of journal articles, book chapters, and conference papers using the ScienceDirect (SD) and Web of Science (WoS) databases. The review identified that a significant proportion of consumers from different countries have a basic understanding of sustainable products but that there have been differences in consumers’ attitudes towards sustainable purchase, use, consumption, and post-purchase behaviour. Diverse and even contradictory results occurred concerning the relationships between RT and CF and their perceived product attributes in terms of quality and functionality, as well as social-cultural factors. Manufacturers’ and brands’ perceived values of RT were observed to be influenced by different factors on the basis of the recycling system and cultural values, while designer attitudes towards sustainability were observed to be influenced by external factors. This review contributes to the creation of three main implications in terms of environmental impact and awareness, including actions and concrete proposals for RT and CF.
The way in which the current fashion industry operates needs to fundamentally change. In this endeavour, designers are considered central figures throughout the sustainable fashion literature. However, too little is known about clothing designers’ practical contributions to sustainability. Therefore, this study investigates how sustainability is integrated into design practices in sustainable-minded clothing companies and determines the role of clothing designers in this respect. A mixed-method study was conducted based on a sequential exploratory strategy. The data were collected in two stages: a preliminary phase based on five expert interviews and a survey phase, which involved 31 clothing designers from around Europe. The data analysis was also divided into two phases: thematic analysis of the interviews and content analysis of the survey. The findings indicate that the sustainable design practices within these companies predominantly focus on material choices and aspects that support product longevity. Yet, there is little empirical evidence to support claims regarding garments’ true longevity. Knowledge regarding materials, recycling and best practices is also lacking among clothing designers. Lack of knowledge and company strategies frequently dictate and restrict the design work. This further highlights the fact that designers’ opportunities to influence environmental and social change are more limited than earlier literature suggests.
The fashion industry is the second largest industrial polluter after aviation, accounting for up to 10% of global pollution. Despite the widely publicized environmental impacts, however, the industry continues to grow, in part due to the rise of fast fashion, which relies on cheap manufacturing, frequent consumption and short-lived garment use. In this Review, we identify the environmental impacts at critical points in the textile and fashion value chain, from production to consumption, focusing on water use, chemical pollution, CO2 emissions and textile waste. Impacts from the fashion industry include over 92 million tonnes of waste produced per year and 1.5 trillion litres of water consumed. On the basis of these environmental impacts, we outline the need for fundamental changes in the fashion business model, including a deceleration of manufacturing and the introduction of sustainable practices throughout the supply chain, as well a shift in consumer behaviour — namely, decreasing clothing purchases and increasing garment lifetimes. These changes stress the need for an urgent transition back to ‘slow’ fashion, minimizing and mitigating the detrimental environmental impacts, so as to improve the long-term sustainability of the fashion supply chain.
With qualitative research methods an integral part of the psychology curriculum, questions arise of what approaches to teach, and how to teach them. We think thematic analysis (TA) offers a useful – and a relatively easy to teach and learn – basic introduction to qualitative analysis (see Braun & Clarke, 2006; 2012, 2013; Clarke & Braun, 2013); yet even teaching a fairly accessible approach like TA presents challenges in the classroom. Drawing on our experiences, and 38 responses from psychology students to a short qualitative survey on students’ experiences of qualitative and TA teaching, we explore some of the challenges of teaching TA to students new to qualitative research, and suggest strategies for overcoming these. Many of these are not specific to TA; they apply to teaching qualitative research more broadly, but we focus our discussion on TA.
The aim of this paper is to advance research on sustainable innovation by adopting a business model perspective. Through a confrontation of the literature on both topics we find that research on sustainable innovation has tended to neglect the way in which firms need to combine a value proposition, the organization of the upstream and downstream value chain, and a financial model, in order to bring sustainability innovations to the market. Therefore, we review the current literature on business models in the contexts of technological, organizational, and social sustainability innovations. As the current literature does not offer a general conceptual definition of sustainable business models, we propose examples of normative 'boundary conditions' that business models should meet in order to support sustainable innovations. Finally, we sketch the outline of a research agenda by formulating a number of guiding questions.
This paper proposes a conceptual integration of business models into contexts of corporate sustainability. A business model can be interpreted as the blueprint of an organization’s business logic. It can serve as starting point to investigate first, if business cases for sustainability can be realized under industry- and firm-specific circumstances and second, if an organization’s resources and activities are configured in a way that allows for creating value on the private and public level. Therefore, conventional business model perspectives have to be enhanced through accentuation and extension to integrate sustainability aspects. After discussing some general business model rhetoric which can be found in corporate sustainability contexts, a promising conventional business model concept is introduced and further developed to propose a generic template for “business models for sustainability.” This conceptual work is guided by the following principle: A business model for sustainability is the blueprint of a company’s business logic which internalizes the business case for sustainability. The intention of this paper is threefold: First, identify currently perceived intersections of corporate sustainability and business models. Second, generic business model templates for issues of corporate sustainability are rare; a gap that shall be filled by moving from rhetoric to a generic template for business models for sustainability. Third, open up a new field which may be labelled “strategic business model management."
The accumulation of plastic waste, due to lack of recycling, has led to serious environmental pollution. Although mechanical recycling can alleviate this issue, it inevitably reduces the molecular weight and weakens the mechanical properties of materials and is not suitable for mixed materials. Chemical recycling, on the other hand, breaks the polymer into monomers or small‐molecule constituents, allowing for the preparation of materials of quality comparable to that of the virgin polymers and can be applied to mixed materials. Mechanochemical degradation and recycling leverages the advantages of mechanical techniques, such as scalability and efficient energy use, to achieve chemical recycling. We summarize recent progress in mechanochemical degradation and recycling of synthetic polymers, including both commercial polymers and those designed for more efficient mechanochemical degradation. We also point out the limitations of mechanochemical degradation and present our perspectives on how the challenges can be mitigated for a circular polymer economy.
This paper presents the first mile problem of the circular economy supply chains: organizing the collection of used materials from individual consumers. Efficient solving of this problem is a prerequisite for recycling, as it ensures that adequate volumes of used materials, in this study end-of-life textiles, can be transformed into high-quality raw materials. Textile features affect the collection system design and make used textiles differ from other household waste fractions, such as glass or plastic. The aim is to investigate how to collect textile waste from consumers in a way that addresses the specific features of textiles, and the scarce resources of the collector organizations, but results in the largest collected yields to eventually drive up the recycling rates of used textiles. The study takes a supply chain view to reverse flows of textiles. Key experts from a sample of textile organizations were interviewed to understand their collection practices and possible future solutions, and a data analysis model was constructed to provide accurate prediction of end-of-life textile volumes. This study proposes how the first mile problem of end-of-life textiles, the collection from households, can be modelled in a situation where no historical volume data is available. The practical contribution lies in the urgent need for textile collection solutions, as municipal actors and waste companies in Europe are searching for efficient solutions to respond to the requirement of separate used textile collection by 2025. The study demonstrates how a circular economy problem with multiple unknows and uncertainties can be modelled quantitatively.
Recently, textiles and their end-of-life management have become the focus of public and political attention. In the European Union the revised waste framework directive defines textiles as municipal waste and stipulates their separate collection by 2025. In the context of these developments, this paper summarises briefly the current state-of-the-art in textile recycling. It is evident that recycling methods are not yet fully developed. This is especially the case with multi-material textiles, which are composed of two or more polymers that are incompatible for recycling. In the practical part of the communication, results are presented which show that enzymatic hydrolysis is a suitable process for recycling textiles made of cotton and polyester. After a complete removal of cotton, the remaining pure polyester fibres undergo a re-granulation and post-condensation step. The so obtained recycled polyester is fed back into the textile processing chain and finally towels are obtained. The main steering parameters of the enzymatic hydrolysis process are described. The study proves that solutions in accordance with the Circular Economy in the textile sector are available but an industrial implementation has not yet been realised.
There is no evidence-based discussion on the intended and unintended global social impacts, such as changes in employment, of the European Union's (EU) transition towards the Circular Economy (CE). Consequently, its ethical implications are nebulous. Therefore, this paper assesses CE-induced global employment shifts using the example of the apparel value chains of apparel imported to the EU from the top five exporting countries: China, Bangladesh, India, Turkey and Cambodia. The discussion of the results is based on the ethical framework for global transformative change that applies justice considerations on sustainability transitions. This paper is the first sector-specific quantitative study on the employment effects of the EU transition on a global scale, including ethical dimensions of those effects, as far as we are aware. Overall, this paper contributes to the broader discussion of CE-induced social effects of sustainability transitions. Its results indicate that employment could significantly decrease in low- to upper-middle-income countries outside the EU, in particular in labour-intense apparel production. Employment could increase in less-labour intense downstream reuse and recycling activities in the EU and second-hand retail in- and outside the EU. From an ethical perspective, the benefits and disadvantages of the circular transition seem to be unevenly distributed, with the main adverse effects to be carried by non-EU stakeholders.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the drivers, inhibitors and enablers of creating a textile-to-textile recycling system in the Scandinavian fashion industry. It investigates the technology, innovation and systemic changes required to enable circular supply chains.
Design/methodology/approach
The research study uses a qualitative, interpretivist approach, drawing on in-depth semi-structured interviews with stakeholders in the Scandinavian fashion industry.
Findings
The main inhibitors to textile-to-textile recycling systems in the Scandinavian fashion industry are: limited technology which creates a challenge for separating materials; high costs of research and development and building the supporting logistics; complexity of supply chains including the multitude of stakeholders involved in product development. The enablers are design and use of new materials, increased garment collection and collaboration. This research suggests that sorting and recycling technology can be enhanced with the use of digital technologies, as this would create transparency, traceability and automatisation.
Research limitations/implications
The research is limited by a small sample size and lack of representation of all key stakeholder groups, which limits the ability to generalise these findings. However, as an exploratory study, the findings provide insights that can be further tested in other contexts.
Originality/value
Understanding of textile-to-textile recycling is emerging both theoretically and practically, however, there is still much that is not understood. This research contributes to furthering understanding of how technology, collaboration and systemic change in the fashion industry can support opportunities for textile-to-textile recycling, thereby aligning with circular economy principles.
Conceptually Cleaner Production seeks to integrate the continuous utilization of deterrent environmental approaches to processes, products and services aiming to rise efficiency and to minimize the risks to people and environment. Extant literature has shown that the implementation of Cleaner Production practices brings as a result economic and environmental gains. Nevertheless, very few studies link those savings to the Sustainable Development Goals, reason why this research aims to evaluate if the economic and environmental advantages coming from Cleaner Production adoption in the textile industry contributed to the Sustainable Development Goals. This was done through extensive review of the literature, complemented by the proposal of a theoretical framework confirmed through the development of two case studies. As a result, it was concluded that the adoption of Cleaner Production practices in Brazilian textile industries through technological innovation made it possible to highlight the economic and environmental gains relating those to Sustainable Development Goals 9, 12 and 15.
World fibre production has been rising continuously over last decades and a tremendous increase is expected in the near future. The major portion of fibres goes to the textile industry whose main output streams are apparel and home textiles. With the transformation of these textile products from a basic human need to fashion items, their lifetime before disposal is steadily declining, while at the same time the complexity of their material composition is increasing. As a matter of fact, the amount of disposed items is increasing distinctively and the issue of a proper handling of end-of-life textiles is becoming more important. The objective of this mini review is, first to give a brief overview of the already available textile recycling methods, and subsequently it will discuss innovative developments of new recycling processes in the textile recycling sector. A special focus of this review lies on the emerging field of biochemical fibre recycling processes, which could become a major step on the way to a circular economy in the textile processing chain. Owing to the high selectivity of bio-catalysts, enzymes, these processes could be used to remove a specific fibre material from multi-component textiles. As the complexity of textiles is reduced, the recyclability is increased.
The circular economy concept is much discussed in the European Union (EU), but only limited progress has been accomplished so far regarding its implementation. Most scholarly studies blame this on various technological barriers. Our work rebuts these studies. We present the first large-N-study on circular economy barriers in the EU (208 survey respondents, 47 expert interviews). We find that cultural barriers, particularly a lack of consumer interest and awareness as well as a hesitant company culture, are considered the main circular economy barriers by businesses and policy-makers. These are driven by market barriers which, in turn, are induced by a lack of synergistic governmental interventions to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy. Meanwhile, not a single technological barrier is ranked among the most pressing circular economy barriers, according to our research. Overall, our work suggests that circular economy is a niche discussion among sustainable development professionals at this stage. Significant efforts need to be undertaken for the concept to maintain its momentum.
An increasing amount of waste is generated each year from textiles and their production. For economic and environmental reasons it is necessary that as much of this waste as possible is recycled instead of being disposed of in landfill sites. In reality the rate of textile recycling is still relatively low. On average, approximately ten million tonnes of textile waste is currently dumped in Europe and America each year. Considering the diversity of fibrous waste and structures, many technologies must work in concert in an integrated industry in order to increase the rate of recycling. Recycling in textiles shows how this can be achieved. The first part of the book introduces the subject by looking at the general issues involved and the technologies concerned. Part Two explores the chemical aspects of textile recycling. Part Three focuses on recycled textile products, including nonwovens and alternative fibres. Finally, the last part of the book discusses possible applications of recycled textiles, including using recycled products in the operating theatre, for soil stabilisation and in concrete reinforcement. Recycling in textiles presents several promising technologies and ideas for recycling systems. This is the first book of its kind to bring together textile recycling issues, technology, products, processes and applications. It will prove an invaluable guide to all those in the industry who are now looking for ways to recycle their textile waste.
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