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Despite the growing attention toward negative environmental impacts generated by the textile industry, companies face challenges in achieving sustainable and circular economy (CE) transition. The literature has so far lacked a systematic effort to analyze how textile companies can insert CE elements in their new product development process (NPD), especially regarding the proposition of methodologies that can better assist the companies in this regard. This study aims to identify good green innovation and CE practices in NPD adopted by textile companies and propose a methodology from Design Thinking (DT) to insert circular thinking in NPD. To that end, we conducted the research in two steps: (i) narrative bibliographic review and (ii) field research. The bibliographic review was conducted in the "Web of Science", "Scopus", and "Scielo" databases. The field research was executed with four textile companies. Our results show that companies tend to consider socio-environmental aspects at different stages of the development of new products. However, there is opportunities for improvement, especially through the use of ideas from DT. The proposed methodology is composed of two main cycles: the design cycle (DT stages) and the consumption cycle (subsequent stages). It encompasses the five main stages of the DT and the three macro phases of NPD of the textile industry. The ideas coming from the DT, especially creativity, focus on the user and stakeholder integration, assist in the development of innovative and circular solutions. The methodology presents how companies can work on reuse, recycling, and manufacturing issues, so that CE occurs. In the end, we evaluated, together with experts, the applicability of the proposed use of ideas of DT in practical cases. The research advances the discussions on NPD in the textile sector, especially on its potential to contribute to the transition to CE. It explores how DT assists in inserting circular thinking into the NPD and presents alternatives for companies to develop circular products and insert green innovations in their NPD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The growing awareness regarding environmental sustainability has fully reached business reality. Consumers and companies alike are looking for alternatives to mitigate pressing environmental demands resulting from continuous population and economic growth. On the other hand, companies must deal with an increasingly competitive scenario where innovation is regarded as a survival need in most markets. It is thus clear that systematic academic research is paramount to guide companies to succeed in environmentally sustainable product innovation. In this context, this paper (i) consolidate extant research and aggregate findings of different studies on environmentally sustainable product innovation through an interpretative framework of published literature on the topic, and (ii) map critical success factors that drive the success of product innovation developed in this new logic of production and consumption. To achieve these objectives, a systematic literature review on environmentally sustainable product innovation was conducted. Results show that there are four main critical success factors for environmentally sustainable product innovation: market, law and regulation knowledge; interfunctional collaboration; innovation-oriented learning; and R&D investments. The factors identified in this research and corresponding variables were subjected to a brief empirical test by professionals. The test allowed a preliminary approval of the developed framework and identification of the most important variables within each factor. A research agenda based on the state-of-the-art on the topic is also proposed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]