Blockchain Supply Chains Driving Textile Sustainability

A team of eco-mindful engineers has just released an in-depth study on how block integration can help accelerate eco-friendly business practices by enhancing efficiency and transparency. As the world inches closer to the UN’s net-zero carbon deadlines, there continues to be a lot of effort and focus on how to optimize the biggest polluters.

This strategy makes sense as there are several easy-to-spot leading offenders. Industries like agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, fashion, and the energy sectors produce more greenhouse gases and pollutants than 75% of other industries. At the same time, they require lots of resources to operate, creating a dangerous and unsustainable cycle.

Textile Industry Stats

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The global textile market has been on the rise for years.  It’s currently valued at $1.11T in 2024 and is projected to reach $1.61 trillion by 2033. All of this growth has led environmentalists and business executives to seek out ways to optimize their practices while reducing negative ecological effects.

Air Pollution

Sadly, the textile industry is responsible for approximately 6% of global CO2 pollution. This equates to approximately 1.2 billion tons of CO₂ dumped into the atmosphere every year. The latest data reveals a 20% rise in fiber production emissions since 2019.

Notably, artificial fabrics like Polyester are not very eco-friendly to produce. They can require lots of water during their dying and finishing processes. This runoff adds pollution to the environment in the form of water pollution.

Water Pollution

The textile market is responsible for nearly 20% of all global water pollution. Tasks like dyeing and finishing clothing can lead to toxic chemicals ending up in the food supply via rivers and streams. Studies report that the textile industry uses 93 billion cubic meters of water yearly.

Land Fills

Another major issue is the waste these factors and consumers produce. Eventually, all of your clothes will end up in a landfill somewhere and will either be incinerated or will slowly leach into the surrounding area. Reports show that textile waste accounts for nearly 500,000 tons of ocean pollution in the form of microplastics.

Asia Leads the Textile Economy

Interestingly, areas in the Asia Pacific continue to dominate this market with a +50% market share. China leads the pack, where its textile industry is responsible for around $90.5B in profit yearly. This number represents a 4.2% year-on-year growth rate for the industry, further cementing its position at the top.

Circular and Sustainable Practices

As part of their efforts to meet CO2 commitments, the country continues to integrate eco-friendly business models and practices. It’s now more common to see industries integrating closed-loop concepts into the production landscape to improve their eco-innovative firm performance (EIFP).

China understands that there is no more time to delay in implementing environmental protection measures. To that extent, they have sought out a mutual symbiosis with regulators to find a balance between enhanced productivity and operational effectiveness versus ecological impacts.

Problems with Current Approaches

There have been some limitations and problems that the current strategy must overcome. For one, there has been limited success regarding the effectiveness of these policies. Factors such as poor transparency, supply chain delays, and lackluster waste management all continue to push the nation closer towards ecological peril.

Additionally, the current strategies fail to take into account resource consumption. It’s a two-way street where reducing pollution is good, but never producing it in the first place is the better option. Recognizing these limiting factors, researchers set off to create an up-to-date and highly efficient model to best understand how to integrate big data-optimized supply chain (BDOSC) strategies alongside Sustainable Supply Chain Management.

Blockchain Supply Chain Systems Study

The paper¹ “Blockchain and big data-optimized supply chains as facilitators of eco-innovative firm performance” is the first to take an in-depth look into how blockchain integration could help to improve other eco-innovative approaches and reduce global pollution. Notably, the paper focuses specifically on the textile production industry in Guangzhou, China.

China Textile

China is the world’s leading producer of textiles, and Guangzhou is home to +44,000 producers. Textiles are big business in China and the entire world, accounting for more than 30% of international trade.

Keenly, the Chinese textile sector brings in around +$23B yearly in profits. As such, there is a huge demand to ensure the transition to a circular economy doesn’t hurt the industry’s bottom line.

Source – Science Direct

New laws, including the National Action Plan for Circular Development, the Circular Economy Promotion Law, the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), and the Green Development Guidelines for zero carbon emissions by 2030, all seek to drive green practices in the market.

Additionally, innovative technologies like blockchain networks could be the missing link to achieving sustainability faster. This study focuses on answering two key questions: what is the impact of blockchain technology when used in conjunction with EIFP and closed-loop supply chain and SSCM practices, and how do BDOSC practices integrate into this equation alongside blockchain, closed-loop practices, and SCM strategies?

Blockchain Technology

Blockchain technology was popularized by Bitcoin. It’s a distributed ledger that incorporates a time-stamped hash function alongside distributed nodes to ensure the state of the network. Blockchains are ideal for large data consensus as their decentralized nature makes them capable of providing real-time results over massive networks.

Blockchain provides more transparency, security, and trackability compared to centralized options. Additionally, when coupled with technologies like IoT (Internet of Things) devices, it can provide unmatched insight into logistics and supply chain systems.

Consequently, the researchers sought to examine how exactly integrating blockchain resources with big data-optimized supply chains can drive eco-innovative firm performance to new heights.

Big Data-Optimized Supply Chain (BDOSC)

Big data optimized supply chain practices in several ways. Like Blockchain technology, it can provide added visibility and trackability. This data can also be used to forecast future trends, locate inefficiencies, and discover other patterns that could assist in driving performance. Today, BDOSC practices have become common among large suppliers.

Eco-Innovative Firm Performance (EIFP)

The researchers chose to take a resource-based view when approaching their supply chain concerns. They wanted the current challenges to be solved via integrating closed-loop (CL) and sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices alongside BDOSC and blockchain technology. This strategy would enhance the EIFP, creating a synergistic relationship between sustainability and efficiency.

Blockchain Supply Chain Testing in Textiles

As part of the testing phase, the engineers collected crucial data points on the city’s textile industry and its environmental impact. They then took this data to create a model that could accurately predict how slight changes could affect the sector both economically and environmentally. This strategy involved gathering data from 352 employees from textile producers in Guangzhou, China.

Study Results: Blockchain in Textile Supply Chains

The scientist noted that there were significant gains made across both the economic and environmental sectors when business combined BDOSC’s advanced data-driven optimization, circular supply chain initiatives, and blockchain technology. They noted that closed-loop practices could be better monitored and resources managed more effectively in this state.

The study determined that the size of the manufacturer made a significant difference in just how much of an improvement the combination made. The larger the producer and the greater the environmental and economic impact created by blockchain systems working with closed-loop and sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices as guidelines.

BDOSC

The study found that BDOSC methods added a lot to blockchain capabilities. These networks could work together to provide real-time data and transparency. The team noted that BDOSC further amplifies sustainability factors by providing secure trackability via the immutable decentralized ledger.

Sustainability as a Moral Imperative

One of the most unique aspects of the study is the researchers’ insistence that sustainability is a moral standard that must be upheld by businesses in order to save the planet. It explains that none of the systems will work properly if the intentions of the company don’t match their public-facing campaigns that champion sustainability and efficiency.

Blockchain Supply Chain Systems Benefits

There are many benefits that his study brings to the market. For one, it provides valuable insight into exactly how blockchain technology can help to make the Chinese textile market more sustainable. It provides real solutions that offer both transparency and can be duplicated across the market to provide significant ecological benefits.

New Insights

It also offers the textile industry data that has never been available before, which could be essential for those seeking to integrate data-optimized methods to enhance eco-friendly efforts. These insights will be crucial in helping to reduce Chinese textile pollution, and the data can be used globally to get even more results.

Policymakers

The paper is the first to offer such an in-depth analysis of the local market, while providing available solutions to tackle the listed problems. It combines technology, business practices, and morality in a way designed to shed light on better options. As such, policymakers can use this data to create realistic market guidelines that won’t hurt the industry but still can provide reasonable results.

Challenges & Risks of Blockchain in Supply Chains

There are some negative concerns that the researchers point out. They note potential data security and privacy issues as the combination of big data and blockchain tech will result in a massive immutable ledger, which could be used for nefarious reasons if governments felt the need.

Additionally, the study found that integrating the technology increased efficiency, but only after covering the initial integration costs. Integrating big data and blockchain systems will require considerable expenses. Additionally, it means that businesses will need to make significant adjustments to their existing operational frameworks.

Another concern is that it could lead to more electronic waste. Every IoT device or sensor will eventually become obsolete. This old waste will end up in a landfill and eventually in the world’s food supply.

As such, the researchers caution against integrating so much new tech that the old technology ends up flooding the landfills. They determined that a timed integration is the best option.

Blockchain Supply Chain Systems Real-World Applications & Timeline:

There are several applications for this approach to textile production. This strategy prioritizes resource efficiency and minimizes waste, making it ideal for high-pollutant industries. The engineers seek to use this data to inspire better practices in the textile industry.

They believe that every aspect, from product design to waste management, could benefit from additional transparency and trackability provided by blockchain options.

Blockchain Supply Chain Systems Timeline

There has been no timeline listed for the integration of this study’s data. However, it’s safe to assume that blockchain integration into these industries will occur over the next 5 years. Blockchain technology is established and in use by many of the world’s top firms. As such, its benefits are more understood, and professionals are more widely available.

Blockchain Supply Chain Systems Researchers

The Blockchain and big data-optimized supply chains as facilitators of eco-innovative firm performance study was put forth by Aman Ullah, Qingyu Zhang, Horst Treiblmaier, Sohail Ahmad, and Sana. Their goal was to showcase the impact of future technologies on the vital textile industry.

Blockchain Supply Chain Systems Study Future

The future of this research will depend on the textile industry’s commitment to meeting its carbon goals. Already, there have been many studies into how blockchain companies can improve supply chain efficiency. These reports take several additional perspectives on the topic, highlighting blockchain’s robustness across several industries.

Innovative Company in the Logistics Sector

There are several firms involved in the logistics sector, creating billions in revenue for their economies and prospective clients. These service providers continually seek out ways to lower overhead by reducing supply chain inefficiencies and other losses. Here’s one company that remains a well-recognized competitor in the market due to its reliable products and reputable past.

United Parcel Service

The United Parcel Service Inc. entered the market in 1907 to provide reliable logistics to the US economy. The company initially launched under the name American Messenger Company before rebranding to UPS. Notably, the company started delivering packages on bike and foot.

By 1916, the company had moved to automobiles. Interestingly, the now-famous brown color of the vans originated as a low-cost way to hide the grind of daily use. Today, it’s an iconic aspect of UPS. By 1953, the company had expanded to include a variety of transport methods, including air and freight delivery.

In 1989, UPS Airlines launched, providing the company with unmatched logistical capabilities. Today, the company combines advanced systems, tracking, AI, and other proprietary technologies to get packages to their location promptly. Impressively, the company currently handles +19.1M packages a day and is considered a direct competitor to the United States Postal Service.

Latest UPS (UPS) Stock News and Performance

Blockchain Supply Chain Systems | Conclusion

It’s easy to see why a company would want to integrate big data and blockchain technology. This report clarifies that vision by one step, highlighting exactly what makes the combination so effective and how it can be best implemented to achieve eco-friendly results. These factors could help to reduce global emissions and make textile manufacturing a safer industry for everyone.

Learn about other Interesting Sustainability Developments Here.

References

^{1. Ullah, A., Zhang, Q., Treiblmaier, H., & Ahmad, S. (2025). Blockchain and big data-optimized supply chains as facilitators of eco-innovative firm performance. Sustainable Futures, 10, 101311. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sftr.2025.101311}