The role of ICT in optimizing reverse textile supply chains

Abstract: Fast fashion and over consumption within the textile industry has led to a serious depletion of natural resources. The current rate of population growth and consumption is unsustainable. In result, there is a growing interested in sustainable solutions, one of which is reverse supply chains. Infrastructures for recycling textile fibers are being researched and developed. At the same time, it is important to put a focus on also developing the infrastructures for textile recollection. When examining a forward supply chain, the last mile, or point of distribution to the final consumer, can be considered the most costly when it comes to logistics costs. As a result, within a reverse supply chain the point of textile recollection, or the “first mile” as defined by the authors, can also be considered problematic in terms of logistical costs. Cirqle is a Swedish based app using ICT to aide in the recollection of used textiles, by offering app users rewards (discounts) for used textile returns at specific retailers. Through gathering specific information about app users, ICT companies such as Cirqle, are key to optimizing reverse supply chains, and in result, aiding in the reduction of the “first mile problem”. Due to the research gap identified by the authors, the purpose of this thesis is to explore how a digital infrastructure for collecting used garments, such as the Cirqle App, can be used to optimize location‟s for collection points; therefore minimizing the first mile problem of reverse logistics in the textile industry.