Closing the loop on take, make, waste: Investigating circular economy practices in the Swedish fashion industry

Taylor Brydges

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126245

Taylor Brydges

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126245

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Abstract

The fashion industry is one of the most wasteful consumer industries in the world. Through the advent of fast fashion – trendy, low-cost clothing produced by global fashion brands – clothing has evolved from a durable good to a daily purchase. In recent years, the concept of the circular economy, a framework for a more efficient, closed-loop economy, has emerged as a key way forward in the transition to a more sustainable and less wasteful fashion industry. This paper investigates how the Swedish fashion industry has implemented circular economy principles. Drawing on interviews with the founders, CEOs, and/or brand sustainability managers of 19 Swedish fashion brands, this article maps circular economy strategies across key stages: take, make, and waste. Crucially, for the fashion industry to move towards circularity, this paper argues that brands must integrate these strategies across supply chains, rather than limiting them to the waste stage. The analysis explores the gaps between circular economy principles and practice, identifying challenges inherent in fashion brand approaches. It concludes with recommendations for further study of the circular economy and the fashion industry.

Highlights

Over the last 30 years, the fashion industry has undergone a dramatic transformation
When we interrogate these practices in more detail, questions arise about the conceptualization and implementation of the circular economy (CE) in the Swedish fashion industry
The CE has been proposed as the solution to the immense challenges faced by the fashion industry

Summary

Introduction

Over the last 30 years, the fashion industry has undergone a dramatic transformation. The fashion industry follows a linear model consisting of three key stages: take (the harvesting of raw materials), make (the production of garments), and waste (the wearing and subsequent disposal of garments) (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017). A dominant industry business model, consumes vast quantities of natural resources to produce inexpensive clothes made by low-paid workers, which are worn by consumers for a short time, and subsequently disposed (Leslie et al, 2014; McAfee et al, 2014). As the production of clothing has increased, the number of times an item of clothing is worn has decreased (European Environmental European Environment Agency, 2014; Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017). The result is an industry that, by various estimates, produces tremendous amounts of waste (Niinima€ki et al, 2020) and has created a social and environmental sustainability crisis (Bick et al, 2018)

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