202
D. Machek et al.
Among environmental and social impacts occurring from various parts of
garments’ life, this paper puts its focus on production phase, thus measures
concerning sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) of clothing industry. Other
measures taken in relation to, for example, closing or slowing the material loop, will
be mentioned when relevant. EU and Sweden has been selected as the case due
to their significance in textile consumption, various recent policy development (see
Sect. 15.2) and authors’ familiarity with the context. As of 2017, EU was the world
biggest importer of both textiles and clothing (World Trade Organization 2018), and
the spending on purchasing clothes per person in EU in real term increased by 34%
between 1996 and 2012 (European Environmental Agency 2014). The amount of
clothing and home textiles put on the Swedish market per capita increased from less
than 9 kg in 2000 to 12.8 kg in 2015 (Carlsson et al. 2011; Elander et al. 2017;
Statistics Sweden 2018).
The paper is written in connection with Mistra Future Fashion, a cross-disciplinary
research programme funded by the Mistra, the Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research. It is based primarily on two M.Sc. theses written by the first and
second authors of this paper (Machek 2018; Heinz 2018), supplemented by some
additional research. The study on policy development was mainly a desktop research
consisting of literature review and discourse analysis, supplemented by interviews
with eight experts and attendance in relevant conferences. For the study on multistakeholder initiatives (MSIs), following literature review, information related to
nine case Swedish brands as well as three case MSIs were collected through interviews and document review (detailed description regarding case selection is found
in Sect. 15.3), followed by its analysis based on the framework developed through
the literature review.
Following this introductory section, Sect. 15.2 provides an overview of the recent
development of relevant government policy at the EU and Sweden, concluded by a
short reflection. Section 15.3 describes and discusses findings from the study on the
perception of Swedish brands regarding the three selected MSIs. The paper concludes
with reflection and discussion on the findings presented in Sects. 15.2 and 15.3 and a
few suggestions for potential future pathways to advance more sustainable clothing
supply chain.
15.2 Recent Policy Development in the EU and Sweden
There exist a growing number of policy initiatives relevant to SSCM of clothing
industry directly or indirectly in recent years, both at the EU level and at the national
level.
D. Machek et al.
Among environmental and social impacts occurring from various parts of
garments’ life, this paper puts its focus on production phase, thus measures
concerning sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) of clothing industry. Other
measures taken in relation to, for example, closing or slowing the material loop, will
be mentioned when relevant. EU and Sweden has been selected as the case due
to their significance in textile consumption, various recent policy development (see
Sect. 15.2) and authors’ familiarity with the context. As of 2017, EU was the world
biggest importer of both textiles and clothing (World Trade Organization 2018), and
the spending on purchasing clothes per person in EU in real term increased by 34%
between 1996 and 2012 (European Environmental Agency 2014). The amount of
clothing and home textiles put on the Swedish market per capita increased from less
than 9 kg in 2000 to 12.8 kg in 2015 (Carlsson et al. 2011; Elander et al. 2017;
Statistics Sweden 2018).
The paper is written in connection with Mistra Future Fashion, a cross-disciplinary
research programme funded by the Mistra, the Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research. It is based primarily on two M.Sc. theses written by the first and
second authors of this paper (Machek 2018; Heinz 2018), supplemented by some
additional research. The study on policy development was mainly a desktop research
consisting of literature review and discourse analysis, supplemented by interviews
with eight experts and attendance in relevant conferences. For the study on multistakeholder initiatives (MSIs), following literature review, information related to
nine case Swedish brands as well as three case MSIs were collected through interviews and document review (detailed description regarding case selection is found
in Sect. 15.3), followed by its analysis based on the framework developed through
the literature review.
Following this introductory section, Sect. 15.2 provides an overview of the recent
development of relevant government policy at the EU and Sweden, concluded by a
short reflection. Section 15.3 describes and discusses findings from the study on the
perception of Swedish brands regarding the three selected MSIs. The paper concludes
with reflection and discussion on the findings presented in Sects. 15.2 and 15.3 and a
few suggestions for potential future pathways to advance more sustainable clothing
supply chain.
15.2 Recent Policy Development in the EU and Sweden
There exist a growing number of policy initiatives relevant to SSCM of clothing
industry directly or indirectly in recent years, both at the EU level and at the national
level.