Barriers for circular business models in the textile sector
Written by: Minna Salo, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
It is widely acknowledged that textile production and use are currently unsustainable. The current linear consumption model produces a huge amount of textile waste. Many textile sector companies throughout the value chain, from textile manufacturers and producers to retailers and textile waste recycling companies, have noticed the need to change their business more circular. There are still multiple technological and non-technological barriers in their way.
During tExtended project we have identified multiple different types of barriers for circular business models in the textile sector. First of all, there are economic barriers that are linked to the fact that developing novel circular solutions and utilizing circular materials can be more expensive and need more financial planning and resources from the textile sector companies. However, the customers may not be willing to pay more for them. Secondly, there are technological barriers both within the textile sector companies and at the market level. On one hand, the textile sector companies might not have knowledge about suitable technologies or have the skills to utilize the relevant technologies. On the other hand, there are currently not too many reliable technologies available in the market. Third, many textile companies consider that the legislation and regulation currently do not support the transition towards circular business models. There is a lot of unclarity in the legislation both between European and non-European countries and within Europe. The fourth barrier type recognized within the project is customer related barriers. There is currently no market push for circular textiles and the customers might not be truly aware of the quality and benefits of the circular products. Another customer-related barrier is that the textile collection and recycling from consumers cannot be fully controlled or monitored by the textile sector companies. The fifth barrier type that was recognized was resource and capacity-related barriers. The transition towards circularity requires a lot more resources and (new) competencies from the textile sector companies. The current capacity and resources of the textile sector companies are not enough to sort recycled textile products and materials from consumers if the amount of recycled materials increases in the future. The capacity for sustainable textile raw materials is also limited and the supply chain might not have the necessary applications, attitude or resources for circularity currently. Last but not least, there are cultural barriers. The change towards circular business needs willingness and change in the mindset of the personnel working in the textile sector companies. It is more complex to be circular than linear and that’s why the resistance might be high among the personnel, especially in the textile manufacturing companies.
The identified barriers are based on several research interviews of textile sector companies within Europe, including textile (waste) recovery companies responsible for the collection, sorting and purifying the textiles, textile recycling companies, textile production and manufacturing companies and textile retail companies. The purpose of our study about the barriers for circular business models in the textile sector, was to provide the textile sector companies a common understanding on what things are currently seen as barriers for circularity of the current business models within textile sector in Europe. Based on this knowledge, the textile sector companies can together start to think about ways to overcome the barriers in the future.
These results were presented for the wider audience in the 11th International Conference on Sustainable Design and Manufacturing (KES SDM-24) held in Madeira 18.-20.9.2024. You can access the presentation slides from here.
For any enquiries about further information on the processes described in this article, please contact Claudia Esposito, Senior EU Project Manager, at: cesposito@carrcommunications.ie
