Sustainable Resilience Degree assessment of the textile industrial by size: Incremental change in cleaner production practices considering circular economy

Abstract

The textile industry is highly polluting as it extracts natural resources for production, consumes much energy, generates a large volume of post-consumer waste, and uses chemical products for the dyeing process. However, the textile industry has achieved sustainable resilience due to the pressures of the 2030 agenda to promote sustainable development, demanding incremental changes in cleaner production practices considering the circular economy to reduce the environmental problem. In this context, it is supposed that small textile companies face more difficulties when compared to medium and large companies to achieve sustainable resilience in response to market pressures. Thus, this study aims to assess the degree of sustainable resilience by the size of the textile industry to drive incremental changes in cleaner production practices considering the circular economy. The research method adopted was a survey with 100 responses and data analysis using ANOVA. The theoretical contribution of this study was to assess the textile industry's sustainable resilience by considering its size to drive incremental change in Cleaner Production Practices considering the Circular Economy. For instance, it was found that companies' degree of sustainable resilience is related to the environmental requirements of the market in which they operate. Important practical conclusions were presented that can help shareholders and managers when intending to supply foreign market; guidance is needed on investment in circular economy actions in production, small and medium-sized textile companies would require government subsidies for the investment in product projects and processes with circular economy principles. In contrast, large textile industries can make significant investments, aiming to be recognized by customers/consumers as a brand that invests in sustainability. Regarding society, adopting the circular economy at the micro-level can contribute to eliminating the company's environmental impacts, bringing benefits for the health and safety of employees and the local community.