Impact of textile circular economy practices on sustainable development goals through mediation of I4.0 technologies and moderation of competitive intensity

Purpose This study attempts to assess how the textile and apparel (T&A) industry in Bangladesh is influenced by circular economy (CE) practices in terms of achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs), with a focus on the moderating influence of competitive intensity (CI) and the mediating effect of I4.0 technologies. It bridges the knowledge gap about how CI and I4.0 technologies may drive CE practices to promote sustainability in the T&A industry. Design/methodology/approach In this study,partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to examine survey data gathered from Bangladeshi T&A industry professionals, including manufacturing and management experts. Six hypotheses pertaining to direct, mediated and moderated impact were assessed using SmartPLS version 4 software. Findings The results show that attaining the targeted SDGs is significantly aided by CE practices that are pertinent to the T&A industry, such as reduction, repair, remanufacturing, and recycling. Five relevant I4.0 technologies like autonomous robots, cloud computing, cybersecurity, Internet of things and system integration can play a major mediating role in this interaction. Nevertheless, neither the association between CE practices and the SDGs nor the relationship between I4.0 and the SDGs was substantially moderated by CI. Originality/value To support the influence of CE practices on the T&A industry’s SDGs attainment, several outstanding research works have been executed. More precisely, very few research has been performed for Bangladeshi T&A industry. This study makes an effort to quantify the various effects of CE and I4.0 on SDGs that have been validated by CI for the first time.