Deadstock-textilier: En analys av dess hållbarhetspotential och strategiska värde för företag

Sammanfattning: The textile fashion industry has a significant environmental impact. The industry accounts for 10% of the world's total carbon dioxide emissions and also leads to other negative environmental impacts. To adapt to environmental goals, including achieving the 1.5-degree target presented by the IPCC, the industry must undergo changes. Newly produced textiles account for 85% of the industry's carbon emissions, and there is an upward trend in the consumption of new textiles in Sweden. There are circular business models that can be used to produce clothes in a more sustainable way, for example by using deadstock textiles. In 2020, small and medium-sized textile fashion companies accounted for 32% of the total sales of new textiles. The purpose of this paper was to investigate how deadstock textiles are integrated as a circular method to create strategic value for companies in Sweden and contribute to a more sustainable fashion industry. The research is based on a qualitative study where four high quality textile fashion companies, using deadstock textiles to be studied. In addition to interviews, previous research has been used to analyze the empirical material. The results of this study show that the utilization of deadstock textiles provides economic, flexibility and brand-building strategic benefits. The study showed a general pattern to as why companies chose to use deadstock textiles as a circular approach. On the other hand, the study revealed a wide range of challenges with deadstock textiles in the strategic context, where the studied company’s experienced challenges related to regulation, logistics, textile quality and understanding the impact of deadstock-textiles usages. Finally, it was concluded that the use of deadstock textiles reduces the environmental impact by reusing surplus materials from the textile industry to produce new garments.