IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/circec/v5y2025i4d10.1007_s43615-025-00555-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Digitalisation and Green Strategies: A Systematic Review of the Textile, Apparel and Fashion Industries

Author

Listed:
  • Emmanuel Ayo Orisadare

    (University of Ilesa)

  • Okechukwu Emmanuel Achukwu

    (Robert Gordon University)

  • Abiodun Afolayan Ogunyemi

    (Tallinn University)

  • Deborah Oluwayemisi Adedeji

    (University of Ilesa)

  • Idowu Jamiu Diyaolu

    (Obafemi Awolowo University)

  • Eunice Ifenyinwa Ugwu

    (University of Nigeria)

  • Ayodeji Oludola Oluwatope

    (Obafemi Awolowo University)

  • Kudirat Oyebisi Bakare

    (Obafemi Awolowo University)

  • Iyabo Olukemi Awoyelu

    (Obafemi Awolowo University)

Abstract

The textile, apparel, and fashion (TAF) industries are vital to national economies, providing employment and fostering global economic development. On the other hand, TAF industries contribute to approximately 20% of global pollution. The rise of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies—including the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and robotics—aims to enhance production efficiency and resource management. However, this transition brings several challenges, such as potential disruptions from automation, concerns regarding energy efficiency, and escalating sustainability demands. In response, Industry 5.0 (I5.0) emphasises the integration of human-centric and sustainable practices, encouraging collaboration between humans and machines. While some existing studies highlight the potential of these technologies as enablers of the circular economy (CE), they often fall short of comprehensively linking these technologies to specific operational and strategic elements of CE. Furthermore, they do not sufficiently address how these digital tools fit within a broader sustainability framework in the context of CE principles. This review study aims to explore how digital transformation through I4.0 and I5.0 technologies can enhance circular economy practices in the TAF industries while alleviating the environmental and social challenges associated with industrial growth. The study examined 42 peer-reviewed studies from 2013 to 2023, employing a descriptive and theoretical literature review methodology to analyse the strategies, impacts, and challenges of digitalisation and green transition in the TAF industries. Findings reveal a significant disparity between firms in the Global North, which focus on technology advancement, and those in the Global South, facing implementation barriers. The study advocates for an approach that contextualises the integration of I4.0 and I5.0 technologies, ensuring that sustainable production practices align with regional needs.

Suggested Citation

  • Emmanuel Ayo Orisadare & Okechukwu Emmanuel Achukwu & Abiodun Afolayan Ogunyemi & Deborah Oluwayemisi Adedeji & Idowu Jamiu Diyaolu & Eunice Ifenyinwa Ugwu & Ayodeji Oludola Oluwatope & Kudirat Oyebis, 2025. "Digitalisation and Green Strategies: A Systematic Review of the Textile, Apparel and Fashion Industries," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 5(4), pages 2775-2827, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:circec:v:5:y:2025:i:4:d:10.1007_s43615-025-00555-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s43615-025-00555-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s43615-025-00555-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/s43615-025-00555-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. Aemin Nasir & Nazlina Zakaria & Rushami Zien Yusoff, 2022. "The influence of transformational leadership on organizational sustainability in the context of industry 4.0: Mediating role of innovative performance," Cogent Business & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(1), pages 2105575-210, December.
    2. Tina Wiegand & Martin Wynn, 2023. "Sustainability, the Circular Economy and Digitalisation in the German Textile and Clothing Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-30, June.
    3. Tseng, Ming-Lang & Bui, Tat-Dat & Lim, Ming K. & Fujii, Minoru & Mishra, Umakanta, 2022. "Assessing data-driven sustainable supply chain management indicators for the textile industry under industrial disruption and ambidexterity," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).
    4. Sumera Ahmad & Suraya Miskon & Rana Alabdan & Iskander Tlili, 2020. "Towards Sustainable Textile and Apparel Industry: Exploring the Role of Business Intelligence Systems in the Era of Industry 4.0," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-23, March.
    5. Wen-Hsien Tsai, 2018. "Green Production Planning and Control for the Textile Industry by Using Mathematical Programming and Industry 4.0 Techniques," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-24, August.
    6. Vasja Roblek & Oshane Thorpe & Mirjana Pejic Bach & Andrej Jerman & Maja Meško, 2020. "The Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Sustainability Practices: A Comparative Automated Content Analysis Approach of Theory and Practice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-27, October.
    7. Fehrer, Julia A. & Wieland, Heiko, 2021. "A systemic logic for circular business models," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 609-620.
    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. Duong An & Duy Tran Le Anh & Huong Le Thi Cam & Rajkishore Nayak & Majo George & Loan Bui Thi Cam & Nhu-Y Ngoc Hoang & Duy Tan Nguyen & Huy Truong Quang, 2024. "Navigating global supply networks: a strategic framework for resilience in the apparel industry," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 523-543, June.
    2. Emilia Vann Yaroson & Soumyadeb Chowdhury & Sachin Kumar Mangla & Prasanta Kumar Dey, 2024. "Unearthing the interplay between organisational resources, knowledge and industry 4.0 analytical decision support tools to achieve sustainability and supply chain wellbeing," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 342(2), pages 1321-1368, November.
    3. Xinglin Liu, 2025. "Carbon emission constraint: A catalyst for the shift from real economy to financialization?," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 46(1), pages 590-601, January.
    4. Fahimeh Khatami & Francesca Romana Rinaldi & Carlo Salvato & Alberto Ferraris, 2024. "Country‐level analysis of the relationships between sustainability and the textile–clothing–leather–footwear industries," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(8), pages 8668-8678, December.
    5. Paweł Poszytek, 2021. "The Landscape of Scientific Discussions on the Competencies 4.0 Concept in the Context of the 4th Industrial Revolution—A Bibliometric Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-13, June.
    6. Ricardo Santa & Rodrigo Zarate-Torres & Claudia Fabiola Rey-Sarmiento & Diego Morante, 2025. "Strategic Innovation and Leadership Dynamics: Unveiling Mediating Effects on Operational Quality in Manufacturing Organizations," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-22, March.
    7. Howard, Mickey & Böhm, Steffen & Eatherley, Dan, 2022. "Systems resilience and SME multilevel challenges: A place-based conceptualization of the circular economy," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 757-768.
    8. Ahmad, Farhan & Bask, Anu & Laari, Sini & Robinson, Craig V., 2023. "Business management perspectives on the circular economy: Present state and future directions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    9. Slavenka Petrak & Maja Mahnić Naglić & Martina Glogar & Antoneta Tomljenović, 2025. "Assessment of Textile Material Properties and the Impact of Digital Ink-Jet Fabric Printing on 3D Simulation as a Sustainable Method for Garment Prototyping," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-25, February.
    10. Satish Kumar & Dipasha Sharma & Sandeep Rao & Weng Marc Lim & Sachin Kumar Mangla, 2025. "Past, present, and future of sustainable finance: insights from big data analytics through machine learning of scholarly research," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 345(2), pages 1061-1104, February.
    11. Marta Negri & Alessandra Neri & Enrico Cagno & Gabriele Monfardini, 2021. "Circular Economy Performance Measurement in Manufacturing Firms: A Systematic Literature Review with Insights for Small and Medium Enterprises and New Adopters," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-27, August.
    12. Nha Minh Nguyen & Tu Thanh Hoai & Hien Van Vo & Nguyen Phong Nguyen, 2023. "Digital approach toward environmental sustainability in supply chains: Evidence from Vietnamese firms," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(5), pages 3303-3317, October.
    13. Peerally, Jahan Ara & Santiago, Fernando & De Fuentes, Claudia & Moghavvemi, Sedigheh, 2022. "Towards a firm-level technological capability framework to endorse and actualize the Fourth Industrial Revolution in developing countries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(10).
    14. Antje Gonera & Hilde Andrea Nykamp & Laura Carraresi, 2023. "Incumbents’ Capabilities for Sustainability-Oriented Innovation in the Norwegian Food Sector—an Integrated Framework," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 3(3), pages 1299-1326, September.
    15. Eleonora Di Maria & Valentina De Marchi & Ambra Galeazzo, 2022. "Industry 4.0 technologies and circular economy: The mediating role of supply chain integration," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 619-632, February.
    16. Maria Giuffrida & Riccardo Mangiaracina, 2020. "Green Practices for Global Supply Chains in Diverse Industrial, Geographical, and Technological Settings: A Literature Review and Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-18, December.
    17. Katarzyna Grzybowska, 2021. "Identification and Classification of Global Theoretical Trends and Supply Chain Development Directions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-19, July.
    18. Ben Oldfrey & Giulia Barbareschi & Priya Morjaria & Tamara Giltsoff & Jessica Massie & Mark Miodownik & Catherine Holloway, 2021. "Could Assistive Technology Provision Models Help Pave the Way for More Environmentally Sustainable Models of Product Design, Manufacture and Service in a Post-COVID World?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-18, September.
    19. Ahmed Chtioui & Imane Bouhaddou & Asmaa Benghabrit, 2025. "From Adopting Industry 4.0 Technologies to Improving Operational Performance in Hospital Supply Chain: The Moderating Effect of HSC Complexity," Logistics, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-22, April.
    20. Song Wang & Dongliang Zhu & Chang Liu & Yaru Li, 2024. "A differential game approach to the low-carbon chains considering the role of shareholding," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(12), pages 31577-31600, December.

    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:4:d:10.1007_s43615-025-00555-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.