Analysing the Barriers Involved in Recycling the Textile Waste in India Using Fuzzy DEMATEL

Abstract

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.