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Weltweit werden immer mehr Textilien produziert – mit gravierenden Folgen für die Umwelt. Ein möglicher Lösungsansatz: eine kreislauffähige Textilwirtschaft mit funktionierenden Recyclingprozessen und entsprechenden Infrastrukturen. Das Forschungsprojekt „DiTex - Digitale Technologien als Enabler einer ressourceneffizienten kreislauffähigen B2B-Textilwirtschaft“ erprobt im Charakter einer Machbarkeitsstudie eine kreislauffähige Textilwirtschaft im Geschäftskundensegment, d.h. im Bereich Business-to-Business (B2B). Dahinter steht die Einschätzung, dass bei Berufsbekleidung und Flachwäsche (Bettwaren, Handtücher) im gewerblichen Kontext enorme Volumina identischer Textilien im Umlauf sind und die Logistik über jeweils fixe Ausgabe- und Rücknahmepunkte in den einzelnen Einrichtungen gut organisiert und etabliert ist. Die Beteiligten in diesem Projektverbund erachten es in besonderem Maße für möglich, in dieser weitgehend geschlossenen B2B-Textilwirtschaft einen ressourceneffizienten ökologischen Materialeinsatz mit einem dienstleistungsbasierten und auf häufige Nutzungszyklen ausgerichteten Geschäftsmodell zu verbinden, das digitale Technologien smart nutzt. DiTex will dafür eine Erprobungsplattform sein.

Dieser Integrative Forschungsbericht (IB) stellt eine möglichst vollständige Ergebnisdokumentation der DiTex-Arbeiten nach zwei von insgesamt drei Jahren Vorhabenslaufzeit dar. Alle bis Sommer 2021 in den Arbeitspaketen (AP) 1 und 2 erzielten Recherche- und Prüfergebnisse werden in diesem Bericht dokumentiert, ausgewertet und interpretiert.

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Textiles and plastics are two of the key product value chains that are considered a priority in the EU Circular Economy Action Plan (EC, 2020a). As a result, the EEA has devoted specific attention to textiles and plastics in the circular economy, building the knowledge base on the textiles and plastics systems, their environmental and social impacts, and potential pathways to more sustainable and circular systems.

The briefing Textiles in Europe’s Circular Economy (EEA, 2019) and its underpinning ETC report Textiles and the environment in a circular economy (ETC/WMGE, 2019) highlighted the sector’s significant environmental impacts, ranking textiles as the fourth most significant in the use of primary raw materials and water – after food, housing and transport, and fifth for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The study also highlighted that synthetic fibres have overtaken cotton in the production of clothing, household textiles and technical textiles.

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The article presents changes that took place in the textile and apparel (T&A) industry in Poland in the years 2004–2020. To describe the changes, we adopted the supply chain management perspective, which allowed for a global view of the changes taking place. We discuss the basic characteristics, such as the size and structure of the industry, innovation, production value, and the use of information and communications technology (ICT). In the research, we used the databases of the Central Statistical Office (GUS) on the sold production of the T&A industry, as well as imports and exports. Our research shows that, at the level of basic characteristics, the industry is close

to the European model. However, it is characterized by a smaller share of small companies in the structure of enterprises. The research showed an upward trend in the production of sold textiles and, to a lesser extent, apparel. At the same time, the operation of the Polish T&A industry is influenced by the import of finished products and raw materials from China, Germany, Bangladesh, and Turkey. The export is directed to the German, Czech, Romanian, and Ukrainian markets. The article provides an overview of the development trends in the Polish T&A industry in the broad context of international conditions.

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The garment industry is an important economic growth engine for the Asia-Pacific region. It is also an industry with a rather poor human rights track record. This study seeks to take stock of developments in the global garment industry. It does so by analysing structural market characteristics and pressing human rights issues as well as existing instruments and initiatives. Specific attention is paid to the role of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI) and to development policies in the global North. Analytically, the investigation is guided by the framework of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP). Important input for the study was obtained at a joint workshop held by the German Institute for Human Rights and the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF) in Bangkok in January 2017 at which NHRI representatives from Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, and Thailand shared their expertise on human rights issues in the garment industry and discussed the challenges their NHRIs are facing.

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This study analyses the limiting impact of using a company size threshold in future due diligence and corporate accountability regulation in the Netherlands and the EU. Based on an analysis of the Dutch textiles and garment sector as a whole and the companies participating in the Dutch Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) Agreement on Sustainable Garments and Textiles (AGT), this study finds that any company size threshold would very strongly limit the number of companies covered by future due diligence legislation. If a high company size threshold, as currently applied in the French Duty of Vigilance Law and the German Supply Chain Law, were to be used in future Dutch and EU due diligence regulation, this would mean only a very limited number of companies would have to comply with mandatory due diligence obligations. In contrast, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), just like large enterprises, face severe risks in their value chains and can be directly linked or contribute to human rights violations or environmental damage.

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