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The Textile and Apparel Value Chain (TAVC) is highly resource-intensive and socially unequal, with vulnerable workers often excluded from sustainability efforts. While Circular Economy (CE) strategies are being adopted to address environmental challenges, most initiatives focus narrowly on waste reduction, overlooking social impacts and social justice. This PhD dissertation addresses this gap by investigating how businesses and policymakers can integrate equity, inclusion, and justice into CE transitions in the TAVC, with case studies from the Netherlands, Spain, and India.
Using a transformative research (TR) approach grounded in gender, Just Transition, Futuring and systems-change lenses, the study centers the voices of workers—especially those in precarious positions—alongside input from academics, companies, and policymakers. Combining qualitative and quantitative methods, it assesses the socio-environmental impacts of circular strategies in diverse contexts.
Key findings reveal that without attention to social impacts, CE efforts risk reinforcing existing inequalities such as poor working conditions and gender discrimination. The dissertation argues for a more holistic CE model that equally prioritizes environmental and social sustainability. It introduces two key contributions:
1. The Social Impact Assessment Framework for Circular Economy (SIAF-CE⚥), which helps businesses evaluate and improve the social outcomes of CE practices.
2. A Just Transition Policy Framework, co-created with stakeholders and applied to European and national CE policies.
Findings also revealed that Transformative Circular Futures offer promising pathways to develop more inclusive circular policies and practices in the sector.
The dissertation concludes with a call for systemic, inclusive approaches to CE—ones that integrate diverse voices, continuously assess social gaps, and create conditions for genuine transformation. It advocates for policies and practices that ensure CE contributes meaningfully to a just and sustainable future for all workers in the TAVC.