Turkey Fashion Industry’s Cut-and-Sew Waste Problem and Its Waste Management Strategies

The linear production model of the conventional fashion industry creates “pre-consumption waste” which has devastating environmental impacts. This study focuses on ‘Cut-and-sew waste’, a type of pre-consumption waste which occurs in the pattern cutting phase of the design development process. Thus, the aim of the study is to determine the scope of Turkish fashion industry’s cut-and-sew waste problem, and identify its waste management strategies. Through an analysis on Turkey’s fashion industry, the study addresses “cut-and-sew waste, through an analysis of the opportunities for, and limitations to, the creation of a sustainable design and production system to improve waste management. As a part of the study, a survey was conducted with women’s wear manufacturers producing their own brands in the Turkish fashion industry. A semi-structured questionnaire, responded to by 84 clothing manufacturers, identified the level of the cut-and sew waste problem, and possible waste management strategies are proposed. Data were collected regarding production methods, revealing waste rates within the preparation of the 2016 spring/summer collection. The findings illustrate the current state of the waste problem, and levels of awareness of the fashion industry towards the environmental effects of waste, and the need for waste management strategies