A Life Cycle Thinking Approach to Analyse Sustainability in the Textile Industry: A Literature Review

Cristina Luján-Ornelas, Leonor Patricia Güereca, María-Laura Franco-García and Michiel Heldeweg
Additional contact information
Cristina Luján-Ornelas: Department of Governance and Technology for Sustainability, Faculty of Behavioral, Management and Social Sciences, University of Twente, Drienerlolaan 5, 7522 NB Enschede, The Netherlands
Leonor Patricia Güereca: Instituto de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Escolar s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, Delegación Coyoacán, Ciudad de México C.P. 04510, Mexico
María-Laura Franco-García: Department of Governance and Technology for Sustainability, Faculty of Behavioral, Management and Social Sciences, University of Twente, Drienerlolaan 5, 7522 NB Enschede, The Netherlands
Michiel Heldeweg: Department of Governance and Technology for Sustainability, Faculty of Behavioral, Management and Social Sciences, University of Twente, Drienerlolaan 5, 7522 NB Enschede, The Netherlands

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 23, 1-19

Abstract: The textile industry is one of the most important productive sectors worldwide, and everyone, to some extent, is involved in its value chain. For this reason, it is essential to be informed about its performance, problems and innovations. This paper presents the progress done in the transition towards sustainable production and consumption patterns. A literature review of the life cycle stages of textile products was carried out to identify initiatives and actions improving the performance. The findings show that transparency and traceability along the supply chain have been a fundamental piece in the transition. Besides, the creation of multi-stakeholders’ clusters, seeking to improve social and environmental issues has been one of the most successful paths in this transition. However, a lack of training and skills along the life cycle stages and disconnection between products’ design and strategies of recycling was found. For this reason, it is recommendable to generate an in-depth diagnosis of the textile industry at a global and regional level. As well, it is necessary to generate strategies and tools that facilitate this transition, mainly supporting SMEs (small- and medium-sized companies).

Keywords: environmental; social; impact; apparel; fashion; garment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/23/10193/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/23/10193/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:23:p:10193-:d:457756

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().