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Blockchain For A Traceable, Circular Textile Supply Chain: A Requirements Approach

Last updated: Sep 4, 2021

Summary

This study examines the feasibility of using blockchain in textile supply chain management to increase traceability and sustainability by examining the requirements for this type of system from multiple stakeholder perspectives. It integrates different bodies of knowledge into a framework that stakeholders can use to holistically address sustainability issues in textile supply chains. This research is essential because industrial blockchain use cases only solve traceability issues up to the product use phase - missing circular economy opportunities to recapture material value at the end of consumer use. The proposed framework can help stakeholders proactively design traceability and sustainability into systems by specifying appropriate requirements.

Problem

Globalized markets allow retailers to provide consumers with inexpensive garments, creating a reinforcing supply and demand dynamic. Industry buyers trade off traceability for low prices, resulting in opaque supply chains. This means natural biogeochemical cycles, social ethics, and principles of economic prudence are systematically transgressed, driving an unsustainable textile industry. Blockchain, as a new technology, provides an opportunity to increase traceability and, subsequently, sustainability.

Solution

This study takes different perspectives from multiple stakeholders using blockchain in textile supply chain management. These insights help build a framework that stakeholders can use to holistically address issues around textiles supply chains, helping to shift to improved supply chain transparency.

Outcome

Results demonstrate how innovative industry leadership, consumer behaviour, policy, and technology can converge to support a new paradigm of collaborative and sustainable textile supply chain management. This research is important because industrial blockchain use cases only to solve traceability issues up to the product use phase, missing circular economy opportunities to recapture material value at the end of consumer use. The proposed framework can help stakeholders proactively design traceability and sustainability into systems by specifying appropriate requirements.