Drivers to implement the circular economy in born-sustainable business models: a case study in the fashion industry.

AutorOstermann, Cristina M.
  1. Introduction

    There is a growing social, academic and governmental concern about the environmental impacts of the production and consumption linear economic model. This model has been considered not sustainable due to the resulting environmental and social effects (Ghisellini, Cialani & Ulgiati, 2016; Korhonen, Honkasalo & Seppala, 2018a), such as the biodiversity decline and the global climate crises. Several actors have been mobilized to search for economic and productive solutions that reduce biological ecosystems' degradation process at the micro-, meso- and macro-levels (Kirchherr, Reike & Hekkert, 2017; Prieto-Sandoval, Jaca & Ormazabal, 2018).

    At the micro-level, one observes, in recent years, the movement of already established companies to implement sustainable practices and the emergence of new companies that have already been born under the logic of sustainability. Businesses identified as "borngreen" or "born-sustainable" are guided by sustainability principles and built on pillars of collaboration and innovation, since their conception (Todeschini et al, 2017). Its processes and products are designed to be innovative and sustainable since birth (Isaak, 2016).

    Some born-sustainable companies are choosing to implement circular practices in their business model. Even operating under the pillars of innovation and economic and social sustainability, these companies are making an effort to adopt specific measures focused on circularity. In sustainable practices, the circular economy (CE) is considered an alternative economic system that allows global sustainability (De los Rios & Charnley, 2017; Murray, Skene & Haynes, 2017). It is an economic model that seeks to reorganize the relationship between human economic activities and the environment, proposing a circularity logic in opposition to the current economic model (Geissdoerfer, Savaget, Bocken & Jan, 2017). The CE can be a strategy for companies of all segments and sizes (Murray et al, 2017).

    Different productive sectors, including the fashion industry, have been moving toward the implementation of CE. The fashion industry is characterized by being one of the largest industries in the world, with the potential for environmental damage and significant social impacts due to the intensive use of natural resources in its production process (Armstrong et al, 2015) and its global production chain, with multiple agents and production outside the country of origin (Kozlowski, Bardecki & Searcy, 2012).

    Considering the economic and social relevance of the fashion industry and CE as one of the possible strategies for sustainability (Pieroni, McAloone & Pigosso, 2019), this study aims to identify what are the drivers for adopting CE in a born-sustainable company operating in the fashion sector. To this end, an exploratory case study was carried out with the only Brazilian company that is implementing circularity practices defined through a sectoral commitment, called 2020 Circular Fashion System Commitment (Global Fashion Agenda, 2018).

    The study is new concerning the analysis of empirical data on the drivers for implementing CE as a sustainability strategy in born-sustainable companies, considering that the existing studies on the transition to circular logic are directed to research in already established companies that decide to implement sustainability policies (Demirel, Li, Rentocchini & Tamvada, 2017). It is also unprecedented for dealing with implementation drivers in the fashion sector: the identification of drivers in the fashion industry can contribute to the consolidation of circular practices in the sector.

    CE is still an underexplored research area within the Brazilian context, and few studies explore the topic in this country. Some studies examine CE practices in the Brazilian context, but none has explored the fashion sector. For example, Paes, Medeiros, Mancini, Ribeiro & Oliveira, (2019) analyze how municipal solid waste management systems' improvements can foster the implementation of CE in urban areas. Sehnem, Ndubisi, Preschlak, Bernardy & Junior, 2020 explored wine chain CE practices related to the CE business model. Silva, Shibao, Kruglianskas, Barbieri & Sinisgalli (2019) explore the barriers to implementing CE practices, and Abuabara, Paucar-Caceres, & Burrowes-Cromwell (2019) investigate coffee capsule consumption concerning the ethical enterprise, environmental stewardship and CE. Therefore, the present study, focusing on the Brazilian business environment, can contribute to the construction of CE theory by providing data from an emerging country, outside the area of greater coverage of the CE, that is, the European Union and China (Ghisellini et al, 2016; Mathews & Tan, 2011; Murray et al, 2017).

  2. Theoretical background

    To support the proposed discussion, it is necessary to understand the existing theoretical bases on CE, sustainable fashion and drivers for adopting circularity.

    2.1 Circular economy and fashion industry

    By definition, CE is a sustainability strategy instead of the predominant logic in the modern economic system, known as linear (Mattos, Lourenco & Albuquerque, 2018). It emerges as a new paradigm in systems, economics, value, production and consumption and proposes reorganizing the relationship between human economic activities and the environment (Murray et al, 2017). The CE considers business organizations as part of a comprehensive system and that its actions and decisions must balance economic development with the protection of the environment and social interests.

    It proposes the radical transformation of production and consumption systems through greater efficiency in using resources and waste, reducing or eliminating losses in the process (Camacho-Otero, Boks & Pettersen, 2018; Geissdoerfer et al, 2017). Therefore, it is based on regenerative systems, on the design of long-lasting products and processes and on the adoption of maintenance, repair, reuse, remanufacturing, reconditioning and recycling practices (Geissdoerfer etal, 2017). It proposes redesigning the production and consumption process, from the stage of conception, product design, supply chain development, production, distribution chain, consumption and disposal or reuse (Murray et al, 2017).

    The academic literature presents a diversity of CE concepts (Korhonen, Nuur, Feldmann & Birkie, 2018b; Prieto-Sandoval et al, 2018). One of the most known efforts in conceptualizing the CE is the one made by McDonough & Braungart (2002). The authors propose a new industrial system in which materials return to the productive cycle many times to bring it back to the biological or technical process. With this practice, it becomes possible to eliminate the concept of garbage and raise the value of raw materials. For this research, CE is considered "a regenerative system in which the entry of resources and waste, emission and loss of energy is minimized by the deceleration, closing and narrowing of material and energy circuits" (Geissdoerfer et al, 2017, p. 766).

    The CE is a strategy for sustainability (Pieroni et al, 2019), and the fashion industry has made significant moves to implement circular practices (Pedersen, Gwozdz & Hvass, 2018). This industry operates in a fast fashion business model, which is the dominant logic and has driven the sector's growth (Kozlowski etal, 2012). It is based on high-scale production, short product cycle, consumption of fashion items of little durability, short lifespan, rapid psychological obsolescence and fast disposal, resulting in excessive consumption and increasing impacts (Armstrong et al, 2015; Kozlowski etal, 2012; Todeschini et al, 2017).

    The fashion industry operates in a complex, fragmented, global chain (Kozlowski et al, 2012), impacting the three dimensions considered bases of sustainability: economic, social and environmental. Due to the outsourcing of production processes, the practice of offshore production, especially in developing countries, and the use of intensive labor, the sector faces challenges related to unethical work practices, such as exploitation of child and slave labor and production under inadequate working conditions (Turker & Altuntas, 2014). In the environmental dimension, the clothing production process has severe environmental impacts on the product's life cycle, from the raw material extraction process, natural resources used to the care and maintenance of parts and disposal (Armstrong et al, 2015).

    2.2 Drivers for implementing the circular economy

    The motivating factors for implementing the CE are part of an interrelational system: in general, it is not a factor that acts alone, but a set of combined elements, resulting in specific conditions in each local context (Ranta, Aarikka-Stenroos, Ritala & Makinen, 2018; Tura, Hanski, Ahola, Stahle & Piiparinen, 2019). Thus, the factors are not mutually excluding and can act together and concomitantly (Jesus & Mendonca, 2018).

    They can be internal or external (Agyemang, Kusi-sarpong & Mani, 2018; Govindan & Hasanagic, 2018; Mattos et al, 2018). Mattos et al (2018) consider as internal factors the organizational culture, the team's commitment to sustainability issues and CE and the support of the stakeholders who share the same values, with the company's participation in a group that is implementing CE, such as sector, industry or companies of the same geographical location. Govindan & Hasanagic (2018) pointed out as internal drivers the gains related to product development and the consequent increase in the efficiency of materials, the use of energy in the production process and the value of products resulting from the improvement of their quality.

    Agyemang et al (2018) propose as internal drivers the possibilities of gaining with the implementation of the CE, such as financial gains resulting from increased profitability and market share, a consequence of the potential of the CE in attracting consumers, increased consumer loyalty...

Para continuar a ler

PEÇA SUA AVALIAÇÃO

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT