The fashion industry, during production and post-consumption, has major adverse environmental impacts. With the recent circular economy (CE) practices initiative, discarded fashion materials are reused to recover value from the waste. However, the CE practices initiative have not been well-received by society. The role of CE practices is very crucial in fashion industry as it helps in lowering the environmental burden caused by the discarded fashion materials, which in turn help to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDG). This study aims to collect and evaluate the challenges restricting the preference for CE practices initiative in Indian fashion industry. Based on literature review and inputs from the fashion industry experts, the study identified twenty-one challenges, in seven categories (Industrial management, Labour, Material, Regulations, Knowledge, Collaboration, and Infrastructure). An integrated multi-criteria decisionmaking (MCDM) approach comprising fuzzy Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory Model (DEMATEL), Analytical Network Process (ANP), and Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) is used to evaluate the challenges. The outcome of the study identifies costly raw materials, absence of certifications, problem in collection and separation, weak technical know-how, and absence of shared vision as the top five challenges to CE practices in Indian fashion industry. Further, the revelation of the causal interrelationship among the challenges helps the industrial management in taking appropriate steps to avert the challenges.INDEX TERMS Circular economy (CE), fashion industry, fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory model (FDEMATEL), India.

Post-consumer wastes from the textile industry are generally landfilled or incinerated. The dumping of large amounts of textile waste has resulted in severe environmental problems. Advancements in technologies have called for textile recycling; however, the level of embracement made by the textile industry towards textile recycling is hampered by myriad factors. The scope of this study lies in identifying and analyzing multiple barriers to implementing textile recycling in India, encompassing all subsets of sustainability, i.e., social, economic, and environmental. The barriers are then evaluated using a Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) approach to identify the significant barriers. A trapezoidal fuzzy-DEMATEL methodology was executed to not only find the most influential barriers but also to find the cause-effect nature between every barrier. The outcome of the study indicates a lack of successful recycling business models, poor demand for recycled textiles goods, recycled products may not replace new products, lack of support for waste management in the industry, and absence of tax relief and rewarding policies as the top five barriers to textile waste recycling. This insight could help influence the decision of future policymakers in the field. Another aspect of the issue of pollution in the textile industry is the recent trend of fast fashion and the enormous amount of waste produced by overconsumption. The Sustainability Development Goal (SDG) 12 which is to ensure responsible production and consumption plays a key role in this sector.