Growth Opportunities for Sustainability and Circular Economy in the Global Textile Industry

Growth Opportunities for Sustainability and Circular Economy in the Global Textile Industry

Sustainable Business Models, Digitalization, and Technological Innovation Across Manufacturing, Recycling, and Extended Product Life Cycle

The study’s objective is to understand the role that upstream, midstream, and downstream operations play in the development of a circular economy in the textile industry. It analyses the volume of textile waste generated globally, the current textile waste collection and recycling rate, and the potential growth of the recycling sector. The analysis covers reuse and repair opportunities in the secondhand textile sector. Revenue forecast for the development of the textile recycling sector focuses on the opportunities across textile-to-textile and fiber-to-fiber recycling based on textile type. The growth analysis is based on the “doing more with less” approach and the 6P framework: policies, products, processes, people/personas, partnerships, and platforms. Various technological advancements that help push efficiency across the circular economy of textiles are assessed here, including digitalization of supply chains, manufacturing, distribution, and end-of-life management; recycling solutions; and technologies and services, such as digital material passport, life cycle assessment tools, robotics, AI-based sorting, and data analytics platforms. A detailed analysis of key growth accelerators with examples of companies to watch is also provided.