IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/circec/v5y2025i2d10.1007_s43615-024-00488-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Examining Energy and Carbon Intensity of the European Fashion Industry: A Hybrid DEA Analysis for Circular Economy

Author

Listed:
  • George E. Halkos

    (University of Thessaly)

  • Jaime Moll de Alba

    (Vienna International Centre)

  • Panagiotis-Stavros C. Aslanidis

    (University of Thessaly)

Abstract

The European fashion industry can tackle parameters such as energy and carbon intensities, aiming to contribute to the sustainable development goals (SDGs) 9 and 12 under the scope of circular economy (CE) principles. The present paper measures eco-efficiency of fashion industry in 22 European countries via a hybrid window data envelopment analysis (WDEA) methodology by employing a short- and a meso-term policy. The inputs are gross fixed capital formation, labor force, and energy intensity value added, additionally value added, and carbon intensity value added are the desirable and undesirable outputs, respectively. The findings show that the meso-term (i.e., five-year) policy has an average eco-efficiency equal to 74.12%, while the short-term (i.e., three-year) policy has 69.15%, leading to the conclusion that a meso-term is better for following circular economy (CE) pathways. The two time-related models’ distinction would be examined regarding its geographic importance, aiming to answer whether there is integration in the European fashion industry. Overall, Western Europe has better eco-efficiency than Eastern Europe due to labor-intensity issues. In essence, the greening of European fashion industry can be done through CE solutions.

Suggested Citation

  • George E. Halkos & Jaime Moll de Alba & Panagiotis-Stavros C. Aslanidis, 2025. "Examining Energy and Carbon Intensity of the European Fashion Industry: A Hybrid DEA Analysis for Circular Economy," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 5(2), pages 921-948, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:circec:v:5:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s43615-024-00488-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s43615-024-00488-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s43615-024-00488-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s43615-024-00488-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Belk, Russell, 2014. "You are what you can access: Sharing and collaborative consumption online," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(8), pages 1595-1600.
    2. Timo Kuosmanen, 2005. "Weak Disposability in Nonparametric Production Analysis with Undesirable Outputs," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 87(4), pages 1077-1082.
    3. Zhou, Peng & Poh, Kim Leng & Ang, Beng Wah, 2007. "A non-radial DEA approach to measuring environmental performance," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 178(1), pages 1-9, April.
    4. D.G.K. Dissanayake & D. Weerasinghe, 2022. "Towards Circular Economy in Fashion: Review of Strategies, Barriers and Enablers," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 25-45, March.
    5. Francas, David & Löhndorf, Nils & Minner, Stefan, 2011. "Machine and labor flexibility in manufacturing networks," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(1), pages 165-174, May.
    6. Finn R. Førsund, 2018. "Multi-equation modelling of desirable and undesirable outputs satisfying the materials balance," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 54(1), pages 67-99, February.
    7. Halkos, George Emm. & Tzeremes, Nickolaos G., 2009. "Exploring the existence of Kuznets curve in countries' environmental efficiency using DEA window analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 2168-2176, May.
    8. Veiga, Gabriela Lobo & Pinheiro de Lima, Edson & Frega, José Roberto & Gouvea da Costa, Sérgio Eduardo, 2021. "A DEA-based approach to assess manufacturing performance through operations strategy lenses," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    9. Mehdiloo, Mahmood & Podinovski, Victor V., 2019. "Selective strong and weak disposability in efficiency analysis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 276(3), pages 1154-1169.
    10. George E. Halkos & Panagiotis-Stavros C. Aslanidis, 2024. "How Waste Crisis Altered the Common Understanding: From Fordism to Circular Economy and Sustainable Development," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 1513-1537, June.
    11. Denise Reike & Marko P. Hekkert & Simona O. Negro, 2023. "Understanding circular economy transitions: The case of circular textiles," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(3), pages 1032-1058, March.
    12. Chang, Young-Tae & Zhang, Ning & Danao, Denise & Zhang, Nan, 2013. "Environmental efficiency analysis of transportation system in China: A non-radial DEA approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 277-283.
    13. Makridou, Georgia & Andriosopoulos, Kostas & Doumpos, Michael & Zopounidis, Constantin, 2016. "Measuring the efficiency of energy-intensive industries across European countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 573-583.
    14. Leonidas Sotirios Kyrgiakos & George Vlontzos & Panos M. Pardalos, 2021. "Ranking EU Agricultural Sectors under the Prism of Alternative Widths on Window DEA," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-26, February.
    15. Guevara, Zeus & Henriques, SofiaTeives & Sousa, Tânia, 2021. "Driving factors of differences in primary energy intensities of 14 European countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    16. Valentina Jacometti, 2019. "Circular Economy and Waste in the Fashion Industry," Laws, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-13, October.
    17. Halkos, George & Moll de Alba, Jaime & Bampatsou, Christina, 2024. "Determinants of environmental efficiency and sources of productivity change in the manufacturing sector: A comparative analysis between Europe and Asia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 291(C).
    18. R. D. Banker & A. Charnes & W. W. Cooper, 1984. "Some Models for Estimating Technical and Scale Inefficiencies in Data Envelopment Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(9), pages 1078-1092, September.
    19. Chowdhury, Naimur Rahman & Paul, Sanjoy Kumar & Sarker, Tapan & Shi, Yangyan, 2023. "Implementing smart waste management system for a sustainable circular economy in the textile industry," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    20. W. Liu & W. Meng & X. Li & D. Zhang, 2010. "DEA models with undesirable inputs and outputs," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 173(1), pages 177-194, January.
    21. Fare, Rolf & Grosskopf, Shawna, 2004. "Modeling undesirable factors in efficiency evaluation: Comment," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 157(1), pages 242-245, August.
    22. Charnes, A. & Cooper, W. W. & Rhodes, E., 1978. "Measuring the efficiency of decision making units," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 2(6), pages 429-444, November.
    23. KÖHLER Andreas & WATSON David & TRZEPACZ Steffen & LÖW Clara & LIU Ran & DANNECK Jennifer & KONSTANTAS Antonios & DONATELLO Shane & FARACA Giorgia, 2021. "Circular Economy Perspectives in the EU Textile sector," JRC Research Reports JRC125110, Joint Research Centre.
    24. Halkos, George & Petrou, Kleoniki Natalia, 2019. "Treating undesirable outputs in DEA: A critical review," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 97-104.
    25. Tone, Kaoru, 2001. "A slacks-based measure of efficiency in data envelopment analysis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 130(3), pages 498-509, May.
    26. repec:eme:ijlma0:ijlma-05-2017-0108 is not listed on IDEAS
    27. Halkos, George & Moll de Alba, Jaime & Todorov, Valentin, 2021. "Analyzing manufacturing sector and selected development challenges: A panel data analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    28. Hahn, G.J. & Brandenburg, M. & Becker, J., 2021. "Valuing supply chain performance within and across manufacturing industries: A DEA-based approach," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Halkos, George & Bampatsou, Christina & Aslanidis, Panagiotis-Stavros, 2025. "Combining policy making tools for green transition: eco-efficiency benchmarking and club convergence," MPRA Paper 123341, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. George E. Halkos & Jaime Moll de Alba & Panagiotis-Stavros C. Aslanidis & Christina Bampatsou, 2025. "Monitoring Eco-Efficiency and Its Convergence Towards Sustainability in the European Rubber and Plastics Industry Through Circular Economy Transition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-23, February.
    3. Chu, Junfei & Shao, Caifeng & Emrouznejad, Ali & Wu, Jie & Yuan, Zhe, 2021. "Performance evaluation of organizations considering economic incentives for emission reduction: A carbon emission permit trading approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    4. Arsen Benga & Glediana Zeneli (Foto) & María Jesús Delgado‑Rodríguez & Sonia Lucas Santos, 2025. "Company efforts and environmental efficiency: evidence from European railways considering market-based emissions," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(5), pages 9977-10012, May.
    5. César Salazar & Roberto Cárdenas-Retamal & Marcela Jaime, 2023. "Environmental efficiency in the salmon industry—an exploratory analysis around the 2007 ISA virus outbreak and subsequent regulations in Chile," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(8), pages 8107-8135, August.
    6. George Halkos & George Papageorgiou, 2016. "Spatial environmental efficiency indicators in regional waste generation: a nonparametric approach," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(1), pages 62-78, January.
    7. Chen, Po-Chi & Yu, Ming-Miin & Chang, Ching-Cheng & Managi, Shunsuke, 2014. "Non-Radial Directional Performance Measurement with Undesirable Outputs," MPRA Paper 57189, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Mahnaz Maghbouli & Azam Pourhabib Yekta & Josef Jablonsky, 2024. "Weak disposability in the non-parametric analysis of efficiency. An interval abatement factor," Operations Research and Decisions, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Management, vol. 34(3), pages 193-203.
    9. Afzalinejad, Mohammad, 2020. "Reverse efficiency measures for environmental assessment in data envelopment analysis," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    10. Barnabé Walheer, 2020. "Output, input, and undesirable output interconnections in data envelopment analysis: convexity and returns-to-scale," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 284(1), pages 447-467, January.
    11. Sun, Jiasen & Yuan, Yang & Yang, Rui & Ji, Xiang & Wu, Jie, 2017. "Performance evaluation of Chinese port enterprises under significant environmental concerns: An extended DEA-based analysis," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 75-86.
    12. Taleb, Mushtaq & Khalid, Ruzelan & Ramli, Razamin & Ghasemi, Mohammad Reza & Ignatius, Joshua, 2022. "An integrated bi-objective data envelopment analysis model for measuring returns to scale," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 296(3), pages 967-979.
    13. Jie Wu & Xiang Lu & Dong Guo & Liang Liang, 2017. "Slacks-Based Efficiency Measurements with Undesirable Outputs in Data Envelopment Analysis," International Journal of Information Technology & Decision Making (IJITDM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 16(04), pages 1005-1021, July.
    14. Chiu, Yung-Ho & Lee, Jen-Hui & Lu, Ching-Cheng & Shyu, Ming-Kuang & Luo, Zhengying, 2012. "The technology gap and efficiency measure in WEC countries: Application of the hybrid meta frontier model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 349-357.
    15. Zhou, P. & Ang, B.W. & Poh, K.L., 2008. "A survey of data envelopment analysis in energy and environmental studies," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 189(1), pages 1-18, August.
    16. Long, Xingle & Wu, Chao & Zhang, Jijian & Zhang, Jing, 2018. "Environmental efficiency for 192 thermal power plants in the Yangtze River Delta considering heterogeneity: A metafrontier directional slacks-based measure approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 3962-3971.
    17. Omrani, Hashem & Yang, Zijiang & Karbasian, Arash & Teplova, Tamara, 2023. "Combination of top-down and bottom-up DEA models using PCA: A two-stage network DEA with shared input and undesirable output for evaluation of the road transport sector," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    18. Liang Chun Lu & Yung-ho Chiu & Shih-Yung Chiu & Tzu-Han Chang, 2022. "Do Forests help environmental development of Cities in China?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(5), pages 6602-6629, May.
    19. Nelson Amowine & Zhiqiang Ma & Mingxing Li & Zhixiang Zhou & Benjamin Azembila Asunka & James Amowine, 2019. "Energy Efficiency Improvement Assessment in Africa: An Integrated Dynamic DEA Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-17, October.
    20. Giannis Karagiannis & Stavros Kourtzidis, 2025. "On modelling non‐performing loans in bank efficiency analysis," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(2), pages 1742-1757, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:circec:v:5:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s43615-024-00488-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.