Abstract
The clothing industry is among the most polluting and waste-generating industries in the world, and it is responsible for the release of large amounts of greenhouse gases. The industry’s massive size and significant environmental footprint with regard to water and energy consumption and waste generation make it a valid improvement candidate. While in recent years, global clothing brands and retailers have taken steps to reduce their ecological footprint, there still is a lot of room for improvement. In this research, we view this sustainability issue from a lifecycle perspective and study the new business models (NBMs) that may arise from the utilization of additive manufacturing (AM) technology. AM is emerging as a method of production for final parts. Moreover, as the range of material and available production processes expands, it is increasingly important to study the potential impact of this promising production technology and potential NBMs enabled by it on the clothing industry. Additionally, the obstacles to AM utilization in the clothing industry are explored. We utilize secondary data related to relevant implementation cases to theoretically study the NBMs that AM can enable to improve sustainability. Three NBMs of “clothing as a service”, “collaborative consumption”, and “direct sale/distribution” were envisioned through the study of current AM applications in other industries, as well as current fashion trends. The results of this research have implications for the sustainability of the fashion industry while also providing directions for AM technology development.
Highlights
The clothing industry is estimated to be worth about 2.2% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) or about USD 1.68 trillion in 2015
We present the research findings and discuss the potential benefits and lifecycle-extending possibilities that can be achieved from the introduction of direct digital manufacturing processes such as Additive manufacturing (AM) into the clothing industry; we present the obstacles to this implementation
In this study, we evaluated the possibilities enabled by AM as a novel and emerging technology that has been called the enabler of the third industrial revolution [7]
Summary
The clothing industry is estimated to be worth about 2.2% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) or about USD 1.68 trillion in 2015. Estimations predict the continuation of growth in this industry [1,2]. The clothing industry makes up about 6% of global trade [3]. The enormous size of the industry makes attention to waste reduction an essential task. In addition to creating large amounts of waste, the clothing industry is highly waterand energy-intensive, and can pollute the environment. The source of clothing fiber is either natural (cotton, silk, sheep, etc.) or synthetic (such as oil-based polyester), and in both cases requires significant amounts of water and energy to be produced firsthand. While synthetic-based fibers release emissions of various types (such as acid gases and volatile organic compounds), cotton requires the use of pesticides that are harmful to the environment as well as humans [5]
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