Title: Awareness and perceptions of sustainability and circular strategies among SME fashion producers in Ghana

Authors: Akosua Mawuse Amankwah; Edward Appiah; Benjamin Kwablah Asinyo; Charles Frimpong

Addresses: Department of Industrial Art, CABE, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana ' Department of Communication Design, CABE, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana ' Department of Industrial Art, CABE, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana ' Department of Industrial Art, CABE, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

Abstract: The circular economy practice requires that businesses transform their current models. Awareness of the tenets of sustainability in the wake of the advocacy for circular strategies (CS) cannot be overemphasised. For Ghanaian fashion SMEs to imbibe sustainability in their practice requires knowledge of the concept. This research sought to inquire about the level of awareness and perceptions that could sustainably trigger the adoption and practice of CS. An in-depth qualitative case study was adopted to engage nine owner-designers of SMEs in the two major cites of Ghana through interviews and observations. A purposive sampling strategy was adopted employing snowball technique. Data was cleaned, coded and analysed using thematic analysis in iterative manner. The major challenge was that, most of the owner-designers of fashion SMEs in Ghana have relatively low knowledge of sustainability and CS. The general lack of awareness makes it necessary to institute awareness-creation mechanisms to propagate the need for the industry to contribute towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12: responsible consumption and production. The direct customer engagement of SMEs could potentially promote understanding of sustainability issues among practitioners and consumers, while adopting circular strategies that are mutually profitable.

Keywords: sustainability; circular strategies; CS; awareness; perceptions; SME.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEWM.2025.146560

International Journal of Environment and Waste Management, 2025 Vol.37 No.2, pp.244 - 260

Received: 31 Mar 2023
Accepted: 06 Oct 2023
Published online: 04 Jun 2025 *

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