Barriers in implementing the circular economy model in apparel waste management in Sri Lanka

The apparel industry is one of Sri Lanka's major export-oriented sectors, generating a substantial amount of pre-consumer apparel waste. Currently, landfilling and incineration are the dominant waste management methods, posing significant environmental, social, and economic challenges. This “take, make, use, discard” approach follows the linear economy model. To address its limitations, the Circular Economy (CE) model has gained momentum over the past few decades. However, while some research has explored CE adoption in Sri Lanka’s apparel industry, no studies have critically analysed the barriers to its implementation. Given that CE remains a relatively novel concept in the country, addressing these barriers is essential. This study aims to identify the challenges and barriers in implementing the CE model in Sri Lanka’s apparel industry. A qualitative research approach was employed, involving four in-depth case studies of large-scale apparel manufacturing organisations. Primary data were collected through twelve semi-structured interviews and validated by four industry experts. Thematic content analysis was conducted manually to analyse the data. The findings identified 39 barriers categorised under seven key pillars as economic, environmental, social, legal, market, organisational and market.