-Fragmented academic literature of the topic.

-Upcycling, like most topics related to circular textiles, remains a manual small-scale operation and presents a huge stumbling block for industrial-scale upcycling.

-The difficulty of sourcing sufficient and appropriate quality of used materials, making it hard to secure a predictable flow of materials of similar quality and that would undergo the same processes.

-It is especially hard to develop profitable business models for upcycled goods with a low cost as it’s expensive to upcycle them and the profit margin is low.

-Another barrier is access to specific tools, skills and equipment.

-Lack of motivation or incentive to expand businesses.

-Consumers perceive most upcycled products as having lower quality than a new product and being too expensive.

-Favourable consumer attitudes toward upcycled products and upcycling businesses in general, and understanding the importance of upcycling in the transition towards a sustainable society. It’s understood that this has to be done by retailers and brands alike.

-The second success factor is, unsurprisingly, financial and business management support to upcycling businesses, such as incentives and grants given by the Government and other public authorities

-Quality assurance of sourced materials becomes an important factor for the success of upcycling operations.

- Securing work facilities and the possibility to borrow, rent or lease professional tools are also important factors for the prosperity of upcycling businesses 

-Establishing ‘Guilds’ to provide the technical knowledge, tools and skills required to scale up upcycling businesses. This should be done through the support of the British Government and would allow SMEs to access this kind of knowledge, thus helping businesses of different sizes to do the right thing.

-Collaborations between the private and public sectors alongside educational institutions could help educate future professionals and especially designers on upcycling, circularity and resource efficiency.

-Investment in knowledge exchange through guilds and universities could help accelerate a transition to circularity by training designers, artisans and business people. It would also allow businesses of different sizes and with different revenues to

-Educating consumers through marketing campaigns and actions to increase demand for upcycled garments.

-New legislation to redefine waste could encourage donations of material to material suppliers, thus increasing the availability and quality of materials.