The article ‘Assessing stakeholder engagement to the EU strategy for sustainable and circular textiles: A systematic review integrating stakeholder and institutional theories’ by Guilherme Hörner Bussolo, Filippo Visintin, Nicola Saccani, and Gianmarco Bressanelli published in the Journal of Environmental Management, examines how different stakeholders respond to the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles.

The study uses a systematic literature review of 175 peer-reviewed articles to analyse stakeholder roles, behaviours and the influence of institutional pressures on the transition towards circularity in the textile sector.  

Key insights

• EU strategy provides a policy framework for circular textiles
  The EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles aims to guide the textile sector towards circularity by 2030, addressing environmental and resource impacts of production and consumption.  
• Strong focus on downstream stakeholders
  Existing research mainly emphasises downstream actors such as consumers, brands and retailers, who are more visible and accessible in sustainability discussions.  
• Upstream actors are underrepresented
  Stakeholders involved in earlier stages of the value chain receive limited attention, highlighting an imbalance in how the sector is studied and addressed.  
• Institutional pressures shape stakeholder behaviour
  The study identifies coercive, normative and mimetic pressures as key drivers influencing how stakeholders engage with sustainability objectives.  
• Different responses across the value chain
  Downstream actors tend to adopt proactive or strategic approaches, while upstream stakeholders often respond reactively due to constraints such as limited resources and weaker integration in sustainability initiatives.  
• Greater focus on consumer and business model actions
  Topics such as consumer empowerment and business model innovation are widely discussed, whereas regulatory and production-related interventions receive comparatively less attention.  

The study highlights an imbalance in stakeholder engagement within the textile sector, with stronger attention given to downstream actors and less focus on upstream participants. It underscores the need for more inclusive governance approaches that address all stages of the value chain to support the effective implementation of the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles.  

You can read the entire article of ScienceDirect.