Determination of drivers in embedding environmental sustainability practices in the apparel sector of Sri Lanka

Apparel is the second most polluted industry in the world after oil. Therefore, implementing environmental sustainability practices in the apparel sector is a buzzing topic discussed worldwide. The apparel industry is the prominent export revenue generator of Sri Lanka which contributes to more than 40% of its export income. This research was done to determine the drivers in embedding environmental sustainability practices in the apparel sector of Sri Lanka. Data was collected using a mixed method approach using quantitative data collected through an online questionnaire survey (205 respondents) and qualitative data gathered via semi-structured interviews (30 interviews). Sample size and data analyzing methods were decided using globally accepted scientific methods. The researcher didn’t find any previous scholarly work of a similar study about the apparel sector of Sri Lanka even though many studies were found on the same topic related to other major apparel manufacturing countries in Asia and Africa. Thus, five drivers namely pressure from brands and retailers, enhancing organizational reputation, reduction of operational cost, government regulations, and safety of workers were extracted through the extensive literature survey conducted using previous scholarly work of other countries which were further evaluated for Sri Lankan context using above mentioned quantitative and qualitative data. It was found that all these drivers were relevant to the apparel sector of Sri Lanka while pressure from brands was the most influential and safety of workers was the least influential driver. No other drivers were mentioned by any of the respondents apart from the above-mentioned factors.