Multifaceted circular economy: how to define criteria for circular textile products and services – Case circular shopping mall

Thumbnail Image

URL

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

School of Business | Master's thesis

Authors

Date

2025

Department

Johtamisen laitos

Major/Subject

Mcode

Degree programme

Creative Sustainability

Language

en

Pages

72+23

Series

Abstract

The textile industry, responsible for 20% of global water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, underscores the need for circular strategies throughout the product lifecycle. Despite the vast amount of research on Circular Economy (CE) the concept lacks a unified definition. A project organization commissioning this thesis is an initiative with a goal to create a circular economy-based shopping mall in Helsinki, Finland. This thesis seeks to help the client organization gain a deeper understanding of what kinds of clothing and textile products and services align with the concept of CE by examining the principles that define a product or service as “circular.” The empirical qualitative data for this intensive case study was gathered through 14 semi-structured interviews with participants including seven SME company representatives. The interviewees were joined by seven expert participants with professional expertise in circular textiles and fashion. The research findings suggest that in the context of CE material characteristics are important but should not be the central focus. Instead, the emphasis lies on business models relying on reuse strategies, product longevity, Product-Service Systems (PSS) and sufficiency logic. The companies participating in this study incorporate sufficiency-driven and service-oriented models to promote strong sustainability, despite challenges in scaling these practices. One of the main findings is the need for conceptual clarity for the circular mall itself before establishing a set of criteria for any products, services or businesses involved. The practical contribution of this thesis is the acknowledgement that when developing the set of criteria for shopping mall’s offering, the scope should be broadened to business models and strategies emphasizing upper-level R-strategies (R3-R0). The case organization should prioritize businesses extending product life by emphasizing durability and repairability. The mall concept should consider supporting Finnish SMEs with scalability and profitability challenges. Future research should focus on R-strategies beyond recycling (R8), particularly on R3-R0 strategies which are less explored in academia but crucial for meeting the sustainability challenges in today’s textile industry.

Description

Thesis advisor

Khan, Iqra

Keywords

circular economy, textiles, R-strategies, product-service-systems, sufficiency

Other note

Citation

Permanent link to this item

https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202501191438

Collections

[gradu] Kauppakorkeakoulu / BIZ