Suarez-Visbal Lis J, Carreón Jesús Rosales, Corona Blanca, Worrel Ernst
Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Vening Meinesz Building A, Princetonlaan 8a, 3584 CB Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Circ Econ Sustain. 2022 Sep 6:1-34. doi: 10.1007/s43615-022-00203-8.
The apparel value chain is essential for the livelihood of millions of workers around the globe. However, human rights violations and the lack of a sustained income by apparel workers demonstrate the poor working conditions present in this sector. Circular economy (CE) has been used by incumbent businesses and startups as a framework to achieve sustainability, thus contributing to its economic, environmental and social dimensions. However, there is a lack of knowledge on its social impact. Most of the literature assesses CE's social impacts by focusing only on the number of jobs created. However, the majority of studies agree on the need to analyse further the quality and inclusivity aspects. This paper explores the social impact of the different circular strategies implemented in three countries. It assesses social impacts related to the quality of jobs, workers' sustainable livelihood and gender equality and inclusion. Results corroborate that CE social ambition is low, and that current circular strategies follow the same feminisation and precariousness of working conditions found in the linear apparel value chain. Thus, policymakers and businesses alike need to strengthen their CE social ambition; coordinate policy and strategies with different countries stakeholders of the apparel value chain to minimise trade-offs; and safeguard a just circular transition. This research contributes to the body of literature on CE by introducing a social impact assessment framework for circularity called SIAF-CE⚥. Additionally, it provides evidence on the current CE social impact implemented by startups and incumbents in regional and global contexts.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43615-022-00203-8.
服装价值链对全球数百万工人的生计至关重要。然而，侵犯人权以及服装工人缺乏持续收入的情况表明了该行业目前恶劣的工作条件。循环经济（CE）已被现有企业和初创企业用作实现可持续发展的框架，从而在其经济、环境和社会层面做出贡献。然而，人们对其社会影响缺乏了解。大多数文献仅通过关注创造的就业岗位数量来评估循环经济的社会影响。然而，大多数研究一致认为有必要进一步分析质量和包容性方面。本文探讨了在三个国家实施的不同循环战略的社会影响。它评估了与工作质量、工人可持续生计以及性别平等和包容性相关的社会影响。结果证实，循环经济的社会抱负较低，而且当前的循环战略沿袭了线性服装价值链中存在的工作条件女性化和不稳定的特点。因此，政策制定者和企业都需要加强其循环经济的社会抱负；与服装价值链的不同国家利益相关者协调政策和战略，以尽量减少权衡；并保障公正的循环转型。本研究通过引入一个名为SIAF-CE⚥的循环社会影响评估框架，为关于循环经济的文献做出了贡献。此外，它提供了关于初创企业和现有企业在区域和全球背景下实施的当前循环经济社会影响的证据。
在线版本包含可在10.1007/s43615-022-00203-8获取的补充材料。
