The Circular Economy in the Tuscan Fashion Industry: A Value Chain Approach

2021 ◽  
pp. 125-139
Author(s):  
Natalia Faraoni ◽  
Tommaso Ferraresi ◽  
Sara Turchetti
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Fashion Industry ◽  
A Value

scholarly journals Making Resilient Decisions for Sustainable Circularity of Fashion

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celinda Palm ◽  
Sarah E. Cornell ◽  
Tiina Häyhä
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Ecological System ◽  
Fashion Industry ◽  
State Response ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Industry Value Chain ◽  
The Many ◽  
Sustainability Challenges

AbstractThe fashion and textiles industry, and policymakers at all levels, are showing an increased interest in the concept of circular economy as a way to decrease business risks and negative environmental impacts. However, focus is placed mainly on the material ‘stuff’ of textile fashion and its biophysical harms. The current material focus has several shortcomings, because fashion is a social-ecological system and cannot be understood merely by addressing its environmental dimensions. In this paper, we rethink the fashion system from a critical social-ecological perspective. The driver-state-response framework shows social drivers and ecological impacts as an adaptive social-ecological system, exposing how these interacting aspects need to be addressed for sustainable and resilient implementation of circular economy. We show how current responses to global sustainability challenges have so far fallen short. Our overall aim is to expand possibilities for reframing responses that better reflect the complex links between the global fashion system, culture and creativity and the dynamics of the living planet. We argue that reducing planetary pressure from the global fashion and textiles industry requires greater recognition of the system’s social drivers with more emphasis on the many cross-scale links between social and ecological dimensions. Resilient decisions aiming for sustainable circularity of the fashion industry must therefore pay attention to social activities beyond the industry value chain, not just material flows within it.

Rethinking luxury brands and sustainable fashion business models in a risk society

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Posi Olatubosun ◽  
Erica Charles ◽  
Tolulope Omoyele
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Risk Society ◽  
Fashion Industry ◽  
Luxury Brands ◽  
Strategic Choices ◽  
Sustainable Fashion

This exploratory work investigates the burgeoning integration of ‘cradle to cradle’ practices into primary strategic activities of procurement, production and sales by ten London based fashion businesses, analysing how profits are derived from offsetting the high costs of sustainable inputs against savings from innovative strategic choices in the production value chain. This research was influenced by the background knowledge that in the global fashion industry, less than 1 per cent of the recycled textiles are converted into new wearable materials, and even more of these textiles end up in landfills. However, this unsustainable tradition in the fashion industry may gradually give way to a mainstream circular economic best practice in the fashion industry, even as the Mckinsey Report found that sustainability will be a significant factor for consumer purchasing mass market apparels by 2025. Based on the semi-structured interview of the ten fashion business owners and the analyses of internal strategic policy documents including budgets, we adopted Garret Hardin’s ‘Tragedy of the Commons’ and Ulrich Beck’s risk society as the lens view through which the qualitative data derived from these fashion businesses were discussed in order to bring out the illustrative extracts and sub-themes. Through the application of interpretive methodological approach, we were able to generate the themes suggesting the ‘Becksian’ reflexive modernization and dis-embedding mechanisms in analysing the issue of trust in luxury fashion environment. We were able to demonstrate the multidisciplinary and multifaceted nature of the use of modern technology in achieving a closed-loop circular economy in luxury fashion business(es) and its interconnectedness within the concentric layers of the value-chain, which is part of the economy, which is in turn a subset of the society and the environment. As businesses are expected to adapt their strategies to the changing environment, we argue that dematerialization in fashion is still at its infancy, and some deliberate actions on the part of economic policy-makers may be required in due course as this is connected to social sustainability amongst others. This article contributes new empirical data to the understanding of luxury fashion business in a circular economy, which is a departure from the linear economy with its attendant externalities. The adoption of a sustainable fashion business model may be pivotal to combating the inefficiency costs built into the fashion industry, and if successful, may be replicated in other jurisdictions in due course.

scholarly journals More value from fewer resources: how to expand value stream mapping with ideas from circular economy

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 447-459
Author(s):  
Christer Hedlund ◽  
Petter Stenmark ◽  
Erik Noaksson ◽  
Johan Lilja
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Lean Manufacturing ◽  
Value Stream Mapping ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Value Stream ◽  
A Value ◽  
New Business ◽  
Value Streams ◽  
Recent Trends

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss recent trends in the circular economy and investigate how value stream mapping (VSM) can be extended to more fully include some of the critical aspects of circular economy. Design/methodology/approach The findings are based on previous research that has explored the usage of VSM to include aspects of the environment and sustainability aspects. These ideas are then expanded to new ways to use VSM by mapping value of a product as it is; used, maintained, re-used, remanufactured, recycled, incinerated or used for landfill. The authors test out this approach through application in the waste management sector to identify possibilities for improvement and new business opportunities in what now is considered waste. Findings This paper introduces an expanded version of VSM that refines the existing Lean toolbox for exploring value and mapping value in a circular economy. Practical implications The aim of this paper is to expand the relevance and practical value of VSM as the world economy increasingly moves toward a circular one. Originality/value Today, VSM is a widespread method within Lean manufacturing that scrutinizes value creation within an organization or within a value chain. This paper describes how VSM can be refined to explore value streams in the afterlife of a product and explore waste as a resource utilization opportunity.

The anatomy of circular economy transition in the fashion industry

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sita Mishra ◽  
Sheetal Jain ◽  
Gunjan Malhotra
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Closed Loop ◽  
Phase 1 ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Fashion Industry ◽  
Model Framework ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Unsustainable fashion consumption and wasteful practices have recently garnered attention in practice and academia; however, research in this field is limited. This study is based upon an extensive review of the literature and aims to fill this gap by providing an in-depth understanding of various drivers and actors operating in the closed-loop fashion value chain. The purpose of this study is to develop a framework of transformation from the linear economy (LE) to the circular economy (CE) for the fashion industry based on “transition theory.” Design/methodology/approach This study is conducted in two phases. In Phase 1, a bibliographic compilation on the given subject is done. In Phase 2, data about the case company is collected through trade media and semi-structured interviews with the founder and the designers. Findings The study found that key drivers for the closed-loop fashion value chain are collaboration with partners, innovation, waste management system, customer connect and changing utilization patterns. Based on the extensive literature review and analysis of the case study, it can be concluded that to incorporate CE principles, namely, reduce, repair, reuse and recycle into current business models, redefining existing value propositions and transforming various business model elements is essential. Practical implications A three-level (discrete level, aggregator level and the peripheral level) framework is developed that can help the fashion industry in transition from LE to CE. This study will help fashion houses to understand how they can work in tandem with various stakeholders to develop sustainable business models. Originality/value This paper contributes to research by advancing the understanding of how to further develop and redesign an innovative business model framework for the circular fashion value chain. A three-level framework is developed that can be used for transition from LE to CE, especially in the fashion industry. This study is one of the first research that has tried to analyze the Indian case company for CE practices in fashion.

scholarly journals Potentials and Prerequisites on the Way to a Circular Economy: A Value Chain Perspective on Batteries and Buildings

2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 956
Author(s):  
Meta Thurid Lotz ◽  
Robin Barkhausen ◽  
Andrea Herbst ◽  
Matthias Pfaff ◽  
Antoine Durand ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
The Political ◽  
Specific Approach ◽  
A Value ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
Key Sectors

It is becoming increasingly clear that linear modes of production and consumption are unsustainable. A circular economy would help to minimize both environmental and social problems. As a result, the concept is gaining momentum in the political discourse. However, current policies do not seem sufficient to transform linear value chains to circular ones. This paper compares the potentials of and prerequisites for a circular economy along two important value chains. As a best practice example, the legal framework along the battery value chain is analyzed. This analysis is used to derive recommendations for how to improve the legal framework along the building value chain. We find that the battery value chain is already addressed by targeted instruments and the instruments addressing the building value chain have to be aligned and their credibility improved through mandatory requirements. A value chain-specific approach to develop the legal framework is promising for key sectors, while both general frameworks and value chain-specific instruments are required to fully exploit the CE for every product.

scholarly journals Scenario Analysis for Selecting Sewage Sludge-to-Energy/Matter Recovery Processes

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 276
Author(s):  
Francesco Facchini ◽  
Giovanni Mummolo ◽  
Micaela Vitti
Keyword(s):  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Scenario Analysis ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Solid Material ◽  
Sludge Treatment ◽  
Sewage Sludges ◽  
Recovery Processes ◽  
Sewage Sludge Treatment ◽  
New Perspective

The sewage sludges are the byproducts of the wastewater treatment. The new perspective of the wastewater value chain points to a sustainable circular economy approach, where the residual solid material produced by sewage sludge treatments is a resource rather than a waste. A sewage sludge treatment system consists of five main phases; each of them can be performed by different alternative processes. Each process is characterized by its capability to recover energy and/or matter. In this paper, a state of the art of the sludge-to-energy and sludge-to-matter treatments is provided. Then, a scenario analysis is developed to identify suitable sewage sludge treatments plants that best fit the quality and flowrate of sewage sludge to be processed while meeting technological and economic constraints. Based on the scientific literature findings and experts’ opinions, the authors identify a set of reference initial scenarios and the corresponding best treatments’ selection for configuring sewage sludge treatment plants. The scenario analysis reveals a useful reference technical framework when circular economy goals are pursued. The results achieved in all scenarios ensure the potential recovery of matter and/or energy from sewage sludges processes.

Circular economy for fashion industry: Use of waste from the food industry for the production of biotextiles

2021 ◽  
Vol 169 ◽  
pp. 120858
Author(s):  
Ana Paula Provin ◽  
Ana Regina de Aguiar Dutra ◽  
Isabel Cristina Aguiar de Sousa e Silva Gouveia ◽  
e Anelise Leal Vieira Cubas
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Fashion Industry
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