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Identification of best reverse value chain alternatives: A study of Romanian used clothing industry

Manoj Kumar Paras (Department of Business Administration and Textile Management, University of Borås, Borås, Sweden) (Universitatea Tehnica Gheorghe Asachi din Iasi, Iasi, Romania)
Antonela Curteza (Universitatea Tehnica Gheorghe Asachi din Iasi, Iasi, Romania)
Geetika Varshneya (Development Management Institute, Patna, India)

Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management

ISSN: 1361-2026

Article publication date: 5 August 2019

Issue publication date: 9 August 2019

1196

Abstract

Purpose

Undesired changes in the environment and reduction of natural resources have necessitated the need for environmental protection and resource conservation. Textile and clothing industry is the second largest (after food) industry. Therefore, there is a need to protect the environment by reducing the use of natural resources. The purpose of this paper is to explore and identify the best reverse value chain alternatives for the clothing industry.

Design/methodology/approach

An exploratory study is undertaken at six organizations working in the area of used clothes. The data were collected with the help of semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire, for the analytical hierarchy process analysis. The information from other sources such documents, websites, and reports was also gathered to strengthen the findings.

Findings

There are different reverse value chain methods to minimize the use of natural resources such as direct reuse, upcycling and downcycling. Incineration and landfill can be considered as the last options. The selection of best reverse value chain method is a multi-criteria value decision-making problem, as this involves complex decision parameters.

Practical implications

The industry practitioners can use the above model and results to make end-of-life decisions.

Originality/value

This paper develops a model on the basis of the analytic hierarchy process to determine the best method to close the loop of the clothing value chain. On the basis of the result and analysis, upcycling emerged to be the best alternative to close the loop of the clothing industry.

Keywords

Citation

Paras, M.K., Curteza, A. and Varshneya, G. (2019), "Identification of best reverse value chain alternatives: A study of Romanian used clothing industry", Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 23 No. 3, pp. 396-412. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFMM-04-2018-0060

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

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