Effectiveness of AI Technologies in Reducing Textile Waste in the Fashion Industry

Abstract

Currently, artificial intelligence (AI) technology offers opportunities to address serious challenges in waste management in the fashion industry. This study systematically reviewed and analyzed literature on AI applications in textile waste management from 2014 to 2024. We aimed to review the intervention effects of AI technologies on textile waste across stages of the fashion industry lifecycle and explore AI’s role in promoting circular supply chains (CSCs). The results show that AI plays a prominent role in four key areas: Enhanced intelligent analysis of market dynamics, optimizing consumer experience-oriented durability design, collaboratively optimizing production processes and inventory management, and advancement of intelligent waste management. Convolutional neural networks are the most widely used AI technology due to their strength in image recognition. However, AI technologies also face limitations such as high data requirements. Future research should attempt to promote improvements in policies, enterprise, and technologies to unleash greater potential for AI in CSCs.