Evaluation of potential social impacts of circular textile value chain

As a part of the Telavalue project, in which research on circular textile value chains is being made, a study on the potential social impacts of circular textile value chain was made in the fall 2022. In this study the potential social impacts of circular textile value chain compared to a linear one were evaluated. The framework for this qualitative study was the UNEP’s Guidelines for Social Life Cycle Assessment of Products and Organizations (2020). This study works as a basis for a value proposal analysis, which is done later in the project.

As a result it can be stated, that circular value chain enables many positive impacts from the social perspective, e.g. a more local production (legislation) and decrease in the use of virgin raw materials, but there are risks which should be considered, like economical effects from the consumers’ perspective and the effects on traditional production countries.

The target group for this study are textile businesses moving towards circular value chain.

Here is the excel-sheet from which you can reach the data behind the research