Sectoral assessment of the Turkish textile industry for the diffusion of sustainable production approach

Abstract

The major objective of this study was to conduct a sectoral assessment for the textile industry and develop recommendations in order to successfully diffuse sustainable production approach within this sector in Turkey. Three scale analyses (micro, meso, and macro) were conducted by means of survey studies taking into account (i) the textile producer firms’ capacities and awareness, (ii) standards and demands of retailer companies as well as (iii) the existing institutional framework, strategies, supports, and incentives. Survey study covered 76 textile producer firms, 10 retailer companies (e.g. multinational corporations), and 17 institutions. The results of survey studies indicate that sustainable production approach is not adapted in the majority of the producer firms. Meanwhile, retailer companies have recently started to focus on the supply management issues putting stress on sustainable production approaches as integral parts of their corporate social responsibility policies. Moreover, there is a considerable movement and institutional intention in public and other relevant institutions in relation to the development of activities in line with the sustainable production approach. To the best of authors’ knowledge, this study is the first ever activity in Turkey on sustainable production with a sector-specific dimension.

Keywords:

• textile sector
• cleaner production
• eco-efficiency
• corporate social responsibility
• sectoral assessment

Acknowledgments

This study was financed by Millennium Development Goals Fund (MDGF) within the scope of United Nations Joint Programme entitled “MDG-F 2067: Harnessing Sustainable Linkages for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Turkish Textile Sector.” The authors would like to thank Ferda Ulutaş and Merve Böğürcü for their constructive comments.