Akshay Thakur, Ravi Shankar

Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, 110016, India

Abstract

The textile and apparel sectors have substantial global significance because of their large socioeconomic contribution. Nevertheless, it is among the most environmentally detrimental sectors. Research on the adoption of a circular economy has seen a substantial increase to mitigate its environmental effects. However, there is a significant gap in evaluating the advancement in the current research. Despite this, the adoption of circular practices successfully facilitates the implementation of the circular economy. Hence, the primary objective of this research is to identify the implementation of circular economy practices to convert a linear model into a circular economy framework. To achieve this objective, twelve circular economy practices are identified with the help of existing literature and experts. After that, these practices are evaluated with the help of the TOPSIS method and prioritizeds according to their importance. The results indicate that ‘Designing products intended for circularity’ is the most significant circular practice. Subsequently, ‘Processes designed to eliminate waste’, ‘5 R’s of Circular Economy’, ‘Staff Training allied to the circular economy practice’, and ‘Execution of reverse logistics’ came out with significant circular practices. Managers and professionals may successfully embrace circular processes by prioritizing them and optimizing their organizational resources.

Keywords- circular economy, sustainability, SDGs, textile industry