Challenges of textile industry in the framework of Circular Economy: case from Latvia

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted such challenges for the world’s socio-economic and financial systems Social entrepreneurship is an integral part of Europe’s diverse social market economy. The aim of the paper is to tackle the social entrepreneurship field in Latvia and in particular to reveal the enterprises operating in the textile industry, as fashion industry in general is evaluated as second polluting industry, being just behind oil industry. The paper is limited to social entrepreneurship in the field of textile, as it is a new waste stream that has received particular goals and thus needs to be managed in a more sustainable way. To promote social enterprises in the field of textile production and processing it is especially important to implement elements of the circular economy in the daily activities of a social enterprise. Fostering social entrepreneurship in the textile field allows to reach a range of goals simultaneously, including, but not limited to – decrease of textile waste volume, increase of upcycling and moving towards circular economy targets.