The circular economy has been proposed to transform global textile supply chains which are currently challenged by a complex nexus of sustainability issues related to the dominant fast fashion trend. Research on circular economy in the textile sector often focuses on businesses or consumers as key enablers in circular transitions, yet it treats them as independent entities and thereby neglects the study of interactions that can provide insight at the systems level. The proclaimed “circular textile mission” in the Netherlands setting a national target for 100% circularity by 2050 is used as case study to address this research gap. We explore the circular textile transition processes found in the context of the Dutch mission and compare the development and interactions among various technical and non-technological solutions produced by engaged actor constellations for assessing key factors driving and blocking the overall mission fulfilment. To these ends, we derive a theoretical framework based on innovation system theory and conceptualize the Dutch circular textile transition as a Mission-oriented Innovation System (MIS). Analyzing the structure and functioning of the Dutch mission-oriented innovation system, we show that (1) there is a good match between the formal Dutch circular textile mission and system actor perceptions; (2) system actors have formed structures around three dominant solution trajectories in the Dutch system: secondhand, mechanical recycling, and chemical recycling; (3) these trajectories expose distinct key virtuous and vicious cycles, which characterize (4) the entire system as formative. Overall, the secondhand trajectory shows most developed structures and most positive dynamics, chemical recycling carries most technological breakthrough potential, whereas mechanical recycling is a mature technology but lacks market demand and supply. We compare the three solution trajectories, discuss the disruptive nature of the Dutch circular textile transition, and suggest installing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) as a potential intervention for accelerating system transformation. The study concludes with reflections on the case learnings and considerations for further research on mission-oriented innovation systems.

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了解循环经济转型：循环纺织品案例

循环经济已被提议改变全球纺织品供应链，这些供应链目前受到与主导的快时尚趋势相关的复杂可持续性问题的挑战。纺织行业的循环经济研究通常将企业或消费者作为循环转型的关键推动者，但它将它们视为独立的实体，从而忽略了可以在系统级别提供洞察力的交互研究。荷兰宣布的“循环纺织使命”设定了到 2050 年实现 100% 循环的国家目标，被用作解决这一研究差距的案例研究。我们探讨了在荷兰任务背景下发现的循环纺织品过渡过程，并比较了由参与的演员群产生的各种技术和非技术解决方案之间的发展和相互作用，以评估推动和阻碍整体任务完成的关键因素。为此，我们推导出一个基于创新系统理论的理论框架，并将荷兰循环纺织品转型概念化为一个以任务为导向的创新系统( MIS)). 通过分析荷兰任务导向型创新系统的结构和功能，我们表明：(1) 正式的荷兰循环纺织任务与系统参与者的认知之间存在良好的匹配；(2) 系统参与者围绕三个主要解决方案轨迹形成了结构在荷兰系统中：二手、机械回收和化学回收；(3) 这些轨迹揭示了不同的关键良性和恶性循环，这将 (4) 整个系统描述为形成性的。总体而言，二手轨迹显示结构最发达，动力最积极，化学回收最具技术突破潜力，而机械回收是一项成熟的技术，但缺乏市场需求和供应。我们比较了三种解决方案的轨迹，讨论了荷兰循环纺织品转型的破坏性，并建议安装生产者责任延伸 (EPR) 作为加速系统转型的潜在干预措施。该研究总结了对案例学习的反思和对任务导向创新系统进一步研究的考虑。