From Linear to Circular: Proposing a Model for Textile Supply Chain Transition

The textile industry is a large and increasing sector that is commonly recognized as non-environmental friendly, due to the quantities of pollutants it produces, and to the fact that treating its wastes raises important environmental concerns. A way of reducing its impact can be the development of modern technologies for textile recovery and reuse to meet current and future circular business needs. Effective waste management practices are essential for advancing circularity within the textile supply chain (SC). Specifically, following separate waste collection, a sorting phase should define the portion designated for reuse, while the rest is targeted for recycling. Here, textile wastes might be broken down into fibres through mechanical processes, or through chemical recycling. Although potential applications of recycled materials are manyfold, only a small share of the recycled fibres has been effectively reused for clothing so far. In order to tackle these challenges, the EU Directive 2018/85 requires Member States to introduce a scheme for separate collecting textile waste by Jan. 1, 2025. This regulation forces to speed up the introduction of new collecting, sorting and recycling technologies and facilities that currently do not necessarily exist. In light of these circumstances, the present paper proposes a model for a circular SC of the textile sector, which is the integration of circular thinking into the management of the SC and its surrounding industrial and natural ecosystems. The model will show a high-level abstraction of the Circular Textile Supply Chain (CTSC), outlining and detailing all its features. A graphical representation of this CTSC will be presented too, with the aim to deepen the awareness on textile sustainability and to offer a potential framework as a basis for innovative research studies.