The effect of resilience practices on environmental sustainability and the moderating role of digital tools in the fashion supply chain

There is growing demand for an environmentally sustainable fashion supply chain from consumers, workers, unions, NGOs and regulators to improve the working conditions of suppliers in developing nations. Hence, SC actors must reconcile the environmental sustainability from two perspectives (waste management, and pollution & emission). This paper investigates how resilience constructs influence on waste management and pollution & emission in the fashion supply chain and how digital tools moderate the relationship. Specifically, it focuses on four resilience constructs—visibility, agility, flexibility, and collaboration—and several digital tools, such as blockchain, IoT, big data predictive analytics (BDPA), artificial intelligence (AI), and cloud-based platforms (CBP), which are commonly cited in the supply chain (SC) literature. This cross-sectional study collects data from 190 actors in the fashion supply chain (FSC) in Bangladesh through a questionnaire. The structural equation model (SEM) was conducted using Smart-PLS4.0 to test the proposed hypotheses. The findings reveal that visibility, agility, and collaboration positively influence waste management and emission & pollution dimension of environmental sustainability. SC actors emphasizing transparency in information flow, data sharing, and collaboration are more likely to achieve better environmental sustainability outcomes. Digital tools were found to moderate the relationship, reinforcing the positive effects of visibility practices and the negative effects of agility. This study provides empirical evidence for the role of digital tools in enhancing environmental sustainability within the FSC, offering valuable insights for both academia and practitioners.