Building a new mind set in tomorrow fashion development through circular strategy models in the framework of waste management

Abstract

Energy, food, and clothing are the three main components of humanity. Each one individually and all together contribute to climate change and CO2 emissions, to the consumption of natural resources, as well as influencing social attitude and behaviour. The global trends of the fashion industry are projected to expand in value from $1.5 trillion in 2020 to about $2.25 trillion by 2025, presenting that the fashion request is on continual growth. As natural resources (e.g., water) to produce clothes and shoes are limited nowadays, more resource-efficient production pathways must be identified; moreover, natural materials must replace plastic fibres, natural colours must replace synthetic ones, and ‘buy-and throw-way philosophy’ must turn into ‘buy-less-and-these-are-needed’ as so to reduce the environmental footprint of the fashion sector. This work emphasized the necessity of developing a new business circular model for the fashion industry with the potential of providing plethora of economic opportunities in the framework of waste management. Clear vision and new strategy development in the fashion sector is proposed, including the involvement of customers, businesses and policy makers, driven by the promotion of circular economy through knowledge exchange, education as well as regulatory relief measures for a synergic transition towards the circularity of the fashion industry.