The contribution of material circularity to sustainability—Recycling and reuse of textiles

Publikation: Beiträge in ZeitschriftenÜbersichtsarbeitenForschung

Authors

The finite material basis for human activities on Earth is under growing pressure. The unsustainable outcomes of the textile sector include resource overuse, accumulation of waste, largely uncontrolled emission release into the natural system and labour rights violations. There is broad consensus in academia and the industry itself regarding need to transform the textile system. Circular economy (CE) has recently been the most prominent strategy to target resource scarcity and environmental problems at the same time. CE is at the core of the Textiles Strategy within the EU's Green Deal Circular Economy Action Plan. It focusses on energy efficiency, reusability, recyclability and repairability of textile products. Despite its popularity and increasing implementation in the textile sector, CE is criticised as perpetuating the unsustainable status quo by fuelling the narrative of ecological modernisation. This research therefore investigates the contribution of CE reuse and recycling interventions to reduced material flows and overall sustainability in the textile sector from a comprehensive sustainability perspective by using systems thinking. In a first step, the systems-oriented concept map extension tool is used to explore and illustrate sustainability challenges in the multiscalar and deeply interconnected textile system. In a second step, recycling and reuse are critically assessed in terms of their potential contribution to (1) limited overall material throughput and (2) environmental, social and economic sustainability in the case of textiles. Our findings show that recycling and reuse as CE interventions are suited only to a limited extent to achieve the goal of reduced material flows if operating within traditional market dynamics and growth paradigms. Therefore, CE's most prominent interventions in the textile sector are not able, per se, to lead to a more sustainable textile sector. We offer four recommendations for practitioners, policy makers and scholars to redirect CE towards sustainability and invite for discussion: (1) reintroduce waste hierarchies with a clear prioritisation on overall reduction of all sources and forms of waste, (2) reduce material and products' complexity, (3) reframe a CE narrative for the textile sector and (4) apply a systems perspective to CE.

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Aufsatznummer100535
ZeitschriftCurrent Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry
Jahrgang32
Anzahl der Seiten10
ISSN2452-2236
DOIs
PublikationsstatusErschienen - 01.12.2021
Veranstaltung5th Green and Sustainable Chemistry Conference - 2020 - Universität Dresden, Dresden, Deutschland
Dauer: 08.11.202011.11.2020
Konferenznummer: 5
https://www.elsevier.com/events/conferences/green-and-sustainable-chemistry-conference/about

DOI

Zuletzt angesehen

Forschende

  1. Michaela Stecher

Publikationen

  1. Handbuch Integrated Reporting
  2. Globalisierung
  3. ephemera: theory & politics in organization
  4. Weiterentwicklung der Unternehmensberichterstattung
  5. Low genetic diversity of a high mountain burnet moth species in the Pyrenees
  6. Optimierung und Überbietung
  7. Kunst und Globalisierung
  8. Einführung – Die fragile Autorität der Judikative
  9. A Sociological Reflection on the Concert Venue
  10. The legal framework and an overview of electoral legislation
  11. Die Inszenierung des mobilen Selbst
  12. Organizational Behaviour - Verhalten in Organisationen
  13. Grundkonzeption einer 'Kritischen Theorie der Hybridität' und Implikationen für "nachhaltige Wissenschaften"
  14. Astronaut
  15. Transmitting Culture within Linguistic Alterity
  16. Paradigma III Fundamentaltheologisch IV. Ethisch
  17. "Wir sind immer noch sprachlos"
  18. Neuluthertum II. Theologiegeschichtlich
  19. Überwachung operationeller Risiken mit Frühwarnindikatoren
  20. Abschreiben – Ein Problem in mathematischen Lehrveranstaltungen?
  21. Expression of cyclooxygenase isozymes during morphogenesis and cycling of pelage hair follicles in mouse skin.
  22. Corporate Difference
  23. Die Moderationsmethode als Mittel zur Gestaltung von Präventions- und Kooperationsprojekten
  24. Die schriftliche Berichterstattung des Aufsichts- und Verwaltungsrats zur Internen Revision
  25. The effects of light and soil conditions on the species richness of the ground vegetation of deciduous forests in northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein)
  26. The Termination of International Sanctions
  27. Talking to the Holy Spirit and Growling with the Bears
  28. § 257 HGB
  29. Nachwort in "Suchen wir Zarzura"
  30. Öffentliches Wirtschaftsrecht
  31. Deutsches Case Law? - zur Anwendung englischen Rechts unter § 293 ZPO
  32. § 43 VwGO (Feststellungsklage)
  33. Gute Arbeit im Mittelstand
  34. Wenn Batterien unter die Haut gehen
  35. Das Leitbild der Mischung im Vergleich
  36. Simulationsbasierte Untersuchung von Energieflexibilität bei der Optimierung in der Hinterlandentwässerung
  37. Ablehnungskultur
  38. Corporate Governance und Controlling
  39. The Motivations of Book Publishers in Germany and Australia
  40. Akademisierung versus Nichtakademisierung der ErzieherInnenausbildung
  41. „1940er-1950er. Grund und Körper“
  42. Kommentierung der Art. 16: Ermöglichende Tätigkeiten
  43. Trainingsbuch Mädchenfußball
  44. Diversität und Zugehörigkeit
  45. § 112 VwGO (Besetzung des Gerichts)
  46. Im Frauenlager war es ganz anders
  47. Climate Change May Trigger Broad Shifts in North America's Pacific Coastal Rainforests
  48. § 110 VwGO (Teilurteil)