The Fabric of Circular Economy: how can supply chain collaboration foster circular economy in the textile industry?

Purpose – This study aims to empirically explain how companies can leverage relational enablers to implement a circular economy (CE). Design/methodology/approach – The study uses a multiple case study approach, analysing three born circular start-ups and four incumbent companies committed to CE in the context of the Italian textile industry. Findings – This paper found that companies should prioritise environmental and accountability criteria and goal congruence over economic considerations when selecting an appropriate partner. Moreover, knowledge sharing routines are the most important relational enabler for developing CE, primarily implemented through rethink, repurpose, reduce and recycle. The results show the importance of relational enablers in supporting, and even enabling, CE implementation. Practical implications – The study contributes to practice by highlighting which CE practices are most commonly developed together with supply chain partners and which respective relational enablers allow for CE success. Moreover, it emphasises the challenges that can impede establishing a collaborative CE and that can lead to failure. Originality/value – This paper enriches the supply chain management literature by shedding light on the role and desirability of relational enablers in fostering CE. Additionally, the concept of collaborative CE is introduced, highlighting the importance of collaboration in CE. This work offers a novel conceptual framework, the Fabric of the Circular Economy, for understanding how relational enablers can drive the transition to CE, which can be generalised to different sectors.