Revaluing Fashion - From shareholder to stakeholder value - A comparative qualitative study on the transition towards Circular Economy in the Textiles and Clothing industry in the Netherlands

This study investigates a relatively new phenomenon: Circular Economy (CE). CE strives for a ‘closed-loop’ system and is based on the 9R’s principle with e.g. recycle, reduce and reuse principles. This study is focussed on the transition towards CE in a specific area: the textile and clothing (T&C) sector, with a primary focus on The Netherlands. The study can be used as an exploratory and exemplary study for the global T&C industry. With an eye on the challenges the T&C industry is facing, the overarching research questions are: How is the transition towards CE implemented, in the case of the T&C industry in NL? Who are the stakeholders involved in the transition process towards CE, why are they involved and what for? The research will address the following sub topics; how will different stakeholders in the Multi-Level-Perspective define the role of policy in the transition, what kind of stakeholders are involved and what is their role, what is the level of transition in CE of the T&C industry in NL currently according to stakeholders from the MLP, what kind of CE innovations are identified by stakeholders in the MLP and what is the role of these innovations to CE in the T&C industry in NL. In order to answer the questions, the research is conceptualized with the transition theory and Multi-Level-Perspective (MLP) with macro (sociotechnical landscape), meso (sociotechnical regimes) and micro (niche-innovations) levels. Besides the use of the MLP, CE transition indicators are used in this research to adequately substantiate the theoretical ground of the study. A triangulation approach with multiple sources of empirical and secondary data collection are applied for this study. The study consists of in-depth semi-structured interviews (n=9), participant observations (n=1) and a document analysis (n=16). For the analysis of the empirical data the Value Mapping Tool (VMT) has been used. The transition towards CE in the T&C industry in NL is taking place on a lower- and higher level transition. In the MLP, key stakeholders, the purpose and valuation differs substantially. The socio-technical landscape and the sociotechnical regime interact on policy level and coordination of the CE innovation landscape via intermediaries and intermediary organisations. Multi-stakeholder collaboration is therefore crucial in the transition towards CE. Including not only technical but also cultural innovations because they prove the value of culture in the transition towards CE in the T&C industry in NL.