Advancing Integration of CSR and Social Life Cycle Assessment in the Textile and Fashion Industry

This chapter shows how Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) could be integrated with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to monitor the challenges emerging from the textile industry’s transition towards a circular economy (CE). While CSR and S-LCA share a common objective of addressing societal challenges resulting from industrial practices, they are distinct tools. CSR outlines a company’s voluntary commitment to mitigate its societal, financial, and environmental impacts. S-LCA enables the identification, measurement, and evaluation of social hotspots throughout a product’s life cycle. Embedding CSR with S-LCA is vital because the CE transition may alter material supply chains, which could significantly impact stakeholders such as suppliers, employees or workers, local communities, and consumers.