Circular Economy in a Developing Country's Textile and Apparel Industry: Managerial Perspectives on Challenges and Motivators

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that challenge or motivate textile and apparel suppliers' implementation of circular economy (CE) practices. To this end, we interviewed 18 senior managers from Bangladeshi textile and apparel suppliers. The key reported challenges to CE implementation were cost concerns, the reluctance of entrepreneurs, lack of regulatory influence, the unavailability of appropriate technology and the lack of adequate research and development projects. Conversely, the long‐term benefits, buyer pressure, rising awareness, growing collaboration and the growth in research funding were reported as key motivating factors for CE implementation. In particular, beyond the conflicts between financial concerns and legitimacy, our findings support institutional theory and enhance the CE literature by revealing new insights into normative factors such as development agencies' growing research funding and collaboration, which motivate suppliers to effectively implement the CE practices. This paper has significant implications for managers and policymakers regarding how to capitalise on motivating factors to overcome the challenges of CE implementation.