Analyzing the Challenges to Circular Economy in Indian Fashion Industry

The fashion industry, during production and post-consumption, has major adverse environmental impacts. With the recent circular economy (CE) practices initiative, discarded fashion materials are reused to recover value from the waste. However, the CE practices initiative have not been well-received by society. The role of CE practices is very crucial in fashion industry as it helps in lowering the environmental burden caused by the discarded fashion materials, which in turn help to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDG). This study aims to collect and evaluate the challenges restricting the preference for CE practices initiative in Indian fashion industry. Based on literature review and inputs from the fashion industry experts, the study identified twenty-one challenges, in seven categories (Industrial management, Labour, Material, Regulations, Knowledge, Collaboration, and Infrastructure). An integrated multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach comprising fuzzy Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory Model (DEMATEL), Analytical Network Process (ANP), and Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) is used to evaluate the challenges. The outcome of the study identifies costly raw materials, absence of certifications, problem in collection and separation, weak technical know-how, and absence of shared vision as the top five challenges to CE practices in Indian fashion industry. Further, the revelation of the causal interrelationship among the challenges helps the industrial management in taking appropriate steps to avert the challenges.