Purpose – Used clothes supply chains are becoming increasingly complex, fragmented and less transparentdue to rising volumes of discarded clothes and its dispersed reverse logistics operations across the Global North(GN) and Global South (GS). While it has a promising impact on circular economy and international tradegrowth, increasing exports of used clothes and overflowing landfills raise some negative concerns on its overallsustainability. This paper addresses the dichotomy that exists in terms of interpreting the sustainabilitycredentials of used clothes supply chains.

Design/methodology/approach – A systematic literature review was carried out and 55 articles wereexamined to identify the triple bottom line (TBL) sustainability impacts of used clothes supply chains. TBLsustainability issues were identified, reflected through the lens of natural resource-based view and interpretedin the form of propositions.

Findings – The paper pinpoints sevenTBLsustainability concerns and prescribes three sets of strategic resourcesrequired in glocal used clothes supply chains for mitigating these.These are (1) slowing the supply chain by tacklingpoor quality, overproduction and oversupply issues, (2) improving logistics/supply chain infrastructure andecosystem collaboration and (2) embedding transparent environmental, social and governance (ESG) measurestaken by both value chain actors and regulatory bodies, for embracing system-level sustainable development.

Originality/value – This is one of the first studies to analyse TBL sustainability of glocal north–south usedclothes supply chains. The study is unique in terms of its scope and contribution to the sustainable supplychain literature.