The textile and clothing (T&C) industry is not usually viewed as an exemplar of sustainable development and the circular economy (CE), as the industry has hitherto developed its products in a linear fashion, with relatively little recycling of the finished goods. This article examines the industry’s approach to the core sustainability concept and the CE in particular through a review of the available academic literature, evidence from corporate sustainability reports and websites, and feedback from an online survey of industry professionals. More specifically, the article investigates how German T&C companies are addressing sustainability in their corporate strategies and what activities relating to the CE are being pursued in the industry. The role of digital technologies in the transition to sustainability and the CE in the German T&C industry is also explored. The study finds that whilst sustainability is now firmly embedded at the strategic level in the vast majority of the companies studied, attitudes towards the CE are mixed. The use of digital technologies in support of sustainability objectives is also limited at present, but the need to meet compliance requirements and new customer perceptions of sustainability will speed the transition to CE activities, which will be facilitated by the greater exploitation of these technologies. An operational framework for initiating such a transition is developed, and action lists in the key areas of change organization, products, and processes are presented. These may be used as a guideline for practitioners, and the findings also make a small contribution to the scarcity of literature in this field of research.

Textile and clothing (T&C) production and consumption have been steadily increasing for many years, accompanied by significant resource consumption, waste generation, and environmental impact. Germany holds a pivotal position in the industry, both within the EU and globally, as a leading producer, importer, and exporter of T&C. The circular economy (CE) concept has emerged as a promising solution to address the industry’s negative impacts by emphasising the reduction, reuse, and recycling of resources across the value chain. Digital technologies (DTs) are increasingly recognised as key enablers and facilitators of this transition, promoting both efficiency and circularity in manufacturing processes. However, the extent to which these are implemented in the German T&C industry remains largely underexplored. This study seeks to investigate the role of DTs in advancing CE practices within German T&C manufacturing. Employing process mapping and technology profiling, this research adopts an inductive, qualitative approach based on primary interview data to explore three key areas: (1) current CE practices, (2) the deployment of supportive DTs, and (3) the challenges in implementing the CE and DTs. The findings reveal that CE adoption is set to accelerate among T&C manufacturers, driven by regulatory compliance and market pressures, with DTs playing a critical role in enabling this transition. This study proposes a new operational framework designed to facilitate the shift towards a more circular textile sector, aligning with the ambitious goals of the European Union and broader environmental and societal objectives.

The textile and clothing (T&C) industry is not usually viewed as an exemplar of sustainable de-velopment and the circular economy, as the industry has hitherto made its products in linear fashion, with relatively little recycling of the finished goods. This article examines the industry’s approach to the core sustainability concept and the circular economy in particular, through a re-view of the available academic literature, evidence from corporate sustainability reports and websites, and feedback from an online survey of industry professionals. The role of digital technology deployment in engendering sustainability and the circular economy in the industry is also explored. The study finds that whilst sustainability is now firmly embedded at the strategic level in the vast majority of companies studied, attitudes towards the circular economy remain fickle. The use of digital technologies in support of sustainability objectives is also limited at present, but the article concludes that the need to meet compliance requirements and new cus-tomer perceptions of sustainability will speed the transition to circular economy activities, facili-tated by greater exploitation of digital technologies. Building upon the research findings, existing models and an initial conceptual framework, a simple operational model for initiating such a transition for small-to-medium sized enterprises in the T&C industry is put forward.