The textile value chain comprises all activities and stakeholders that provide or receive value from designing, developing, making, distributing, retailing and consuming a textile product (or providing a service that a textile product renders), including the extraction and supply of raw materials, as well as activities involving a textile after its useful service life has ended.

The value chain covers all stages in a textile product’s life, from supply of raw materials through to disposal after use, and includes the activities linked to value creation, such as business models, consumption patterns, investments and regulation.

The value chain also comprises the actors undertaking the activities, and the stakeholders that can influence those activities.

The textile value chain is thus considered as a whole system that goes beyond the supply chain and the life cycle of products.*