Abstract
Current sustainability frameworks and tools to assess and track social and environmental impacts of textile and apparel (such as life cycle analysis) along the chain, although important, provide a narrow focus on metrics (such as a reduction in inputs) or on economic value. This paper proposes a tailored method which combines value chain thinking with qualitative value mapping techniques to identify what sustainable value means and to whom, who benefits both in and beyond the chain (such as wider society, the environment, local communities), as well as opportunities to create sustainable value in the future. Results from interviews with stakeholders of a single connected cotton value chain demonstrate that this approach can identify sustainable value propositions specific to different actors in the chain, temperature-test whether stakeholders are willing to pay a premium price for sustainability efforts, and identify novel sustainable value opportunities that disrupt the chain. In addition to extending knowledge around sustainability in the textile and apparel industry, our contribution also lies in the development of a tailored tool which can be adapted and used for other value chains.
Highlights
As concerns around sustainability grow throughout the fashion and textiles industries, more collaboration and partnerships along the value chain are required
The purpose of this study is to investigate the viability of a sustainable value chain analysis (SVCA) in the context of textile and apparel value chains, and this paper presents the development of a tailored tool to understand sustainable value creation in cotton fashion products
Fusion of the SVCA and CVMT tool can be used to understand sustainability across the cotton value chain, and what it means to different actors in the chain
Summary
As concerns around sustainability grow throughout the fashion and textiles industries, more collaboration and partnerships along the value chain are required. A way to do this is through a sustainable value chain analysis—a method based on following a single chain and mapping material and information flows, relationships and environmental impacts [1]. The global fashion and textile industries are made up of discrete but related industries such as fibre production, textile manufacturing, garment manufacturing and retailing, all of which face sustainability issues at every stage and with every fibre choice. Raw cotton is the first stage of the global cotton value chain, which includes the following phases: growing cotton, ginning (separating the cotton fibre from the seed and cleaning it), blending cotton from different regions or with manmade fibres (MMF) and spinning into yarn, textile manufacturing, garment manufacturing and retailing [3].
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