Abstract
This report provides a strategic 10-year plan for the adoption of circular economy in the Textile & Clothing (TC) sector, Food sector and society at large, based on the TRICK vision: “A strong EU industrial ecosystem, by engaging all the smaller TC and Food value chain actors in the evolution to sustainable and circular economies, and by enabling them to easily find the services and support needed for the adoption of the new production paradigms.” The targeted audience includes SME manufacturers and other industrial actors, consumers, and public administrations, starting with the involvement of DG TAXUD by our project partner, Italian Custom Agency. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and benefits are provided for each step of the 2021-2031 plan, to monitor and control the progress of planned activities and achieve the stated goals and vision.
The 2021-2031 plan consists of roadmaps that focus on the further development and exploitation of the TRICK services after the project completion, and on increased value chain transparency, traceability, and circularity in the two sectors. The TRICK services are: Secured traceability and PCO, Circular manufacturing assessment, PEF and environmental footprint, Health protection assessment, Social and ethical protection, and A.I. for anti-counterfeiting. For each of the six topics, the roadmaps provide the current state, barriers towards the TRICK vision, and necessary goals, KPIs and activities on the way towards the vision. The roadmaps address a series of sustainability topics within the design and production of TC and food goods, and within intra- and inter-organizational structures in the two sectors. In total, we propose nine roadmaps, as three of the services are to be replicated in the food sector.
This study contributes to theory, practice, and public policies by providing literature and case findings about the status, barriers, goals, and enablers of the application of six methods for increased traceability and transparency in value chains. Moreover, it proposes validated implementation and research activities to achieve increased circularity in the TC and Food value chains by 2031. The collection of 9 roadmaps for each of the methods, arguably provide a unique input to policymakers, whom in turn can introduce policies and support future innovation for their scale-up.
To develop and validate the roadmaps with the partners, the systematic Agile Roadmap method was applied. The partially concurrent steps of this approach were: i) determination of roadmap objects and delimitation of the field of action, ii) analysis and forecast of needs, iii) analysis and forecast of potential implementations, iv) preparation of the roadmaps itself, and v) completeness and consistency analysis. Data collection and analysis methods included: multiple workshops, interviews and surveys involving the partners, analyses of the user needs, barriers and enablers from Task 1.2 and 1.4, and analyses of the service specifications from Task 1.5. We also participated in thinkathons and other data collection activities as part of the various tasks of the project, which helped us to gain a deeper understanding of the user and market needs. The Agile Roadmap methodology enabled us to frequently involve the value chain actors, technology providers, and research centres, in the iterative validation and refinement of the findings. The roadmaps are visualised based on the concept of a metro map, with the current state as the start of the journey, the vision as the destination, and the milestones as the stations. The literature study on the six services, and the roadmaps provide a basis for the development of the TRICK platform (WP2), of Blockchain for the platform (WP3), and of the service marketplace (WP4), and provide a basis for the solution demonstration and the pilots (WP5). Finally, the roadmaps inform the business model development and post-TRICK exploitation, addressed in WP6 and WP7.