A MULTI-METHOD APPROACH TO UNDERSTAND THE ROLE OF CIRCULARITY IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY

• Autor(a) principal: Oliveira, Maria Sofia Alegra Rebocho de
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/155787
• topic: Textile and apparel; Circular economy; Emissions; Sustainability; Policies; Strategies; Domínio/Área Científica::Engenharia e Tecnologia::Engenharia do Ambiente

The Textile and Apparel (T&A) industry is considered one of the most critical merchandise industries of the globe, known for its vast supply chain. It is reputed as one of the most polluting sectors, accounting for almost 10% of the global emissions (Jia et al., 2020; Niinimäki et al., 2020). The circular economy concept has emerged as a solution to redefine growth while emphasizing societal benefits and reducing the depletion of natural resources (EMF, 2022). In the present dissertation, a multimethod approach was applied, combining exploratory interviews, surveys, circular conceptual models, and testing the impact of different circular solutions in two case studies. This process allowed to capture experts, and multinational and small brands' perspectives regarding circular economy to understand the status quo knowledge of the concept. Additionally, it was aimed to identify and study the policies, strategies, actions, education, and awareness practices for circular economy throughout the value chain, and the impact strategies might have on emissions. The complexity of the perceptions was addressed through the data collected through interviews and surveys and its relation with the literature review, culminating in the development of five conceptual models. Additionally, the data provided by the collaboration with Bezero Carbon company allowed a quantitative study of four strategies. It was possible to verify the importance of the connection between all the developed conceptual models as tools for decision-making processes, being their application crucial for the achievement of the circular economy. From one conceptual model to another it was also observed that the relevance/presence of each value chain stage varies according to the models' type (strategies, actions, policies, education, and awareness). With the present study, it was possible to understand the complexity of the circular system in the fashion industry, as well as the multiple parties that are involved and the numerous decision- making processes that are required to reach circularity. There are several paths to circularity that depend on multiple variants from the size of the value chain to the number of processes involved.