Barriers for circular business models in the textile sector

Transitioning toward circular business models is gaining interest in many fields, and textile sector is not an exception. EU has identified textile sector as priority product category for the circular economy and the tightening regulation and the fact that consumers are becoming more environment-conscious are driving the textile sector companies to seek for better alternatives for the current take-make-dispose way of doing business. The environmental impacts, resource restrictions, and economic and social benefits among other factors are seen as the reasons and motivators for the transition. However, despite the interest, the uptake of circular business models includes several barriers. This study investigates the current state of and future pathways toward circular business models among different textile sector companies including textile (waste) recovery companies responsible of the collection, sorting and purifying the textiles, textile recycling companies, textile production and manufacturing companies, and textile retail companies based in Europe. As a result, this study identifies what types of factors are currently seen as barriers for circularity of the business models among these textile sector companies.