A design guide for circular design strategies for textile products - Version 2

The objective of this design guide is to provide information to designers and decision-makers within the company involved in product development, management and marketing (hereinafter referred to as ‘DESIGN’). The goal is to make informed design decisions in the development of cascading-circular products and product life cycles in order to achieve a reduction in the consumption of virgin resources and the resultant environmental impact. Three design strategies are taken into consideration: PRODUCT CIRCULARITY, APPROPRIATE LIFESPAN and MATERIAL CIRCULARITY, along with the two design strategies MATERIAL HEALTH and EFFECTIVE PRODUCTION.
From a theoretical, practical and regulatory standpoint, this design guide
• provides the scope for design in the development of cascading circular products in the form of fields of action,
• shows the interdependencies between the individual fields of action along a product life cycle in six phases,
• and enumerates the ESPR draft requirements (both general and textile-specific) for potential design interventions.
The life cycle of a circular product is structured in six lifecycle phases: MATERIAL STRATEGY & PRODUCTION (1), USE (2), EXTENDED USE (3), RE-USE (4), RECYCLING (5) and END OF LIFE (6). These phases are interdependent, occur sequentially in cascading cycles throughout the product’s entire life cycle and must be defined in the initial design. Designers can take these successive phases into account in the design of the product including the cascading use cycles. In the MATERIAL STRATEGY & PRODUCTION phase, sustainable material strategies are developed and manufacturers are involved who have the expertise to translate circular design strategies into sustainably sourced products and manufacture them as resource-efficiently as possible. In the USE and EXTENDED USE phases, the responsibility for the appropriate intensity and duration of use lies with the customer. Here, DESIGN provides recommendations and incentives for ensuring circular use and can offer touch-points to extend the product’s life cycle. From the RE-USE phase to the END OF LIFE phase, industry regains sovereignty over the product. Ideally, the necessary course for extending a product life along the phases is set by DESIGN in the initial design. Be it in the form of a curation for reuse of the product, the design of sub-products for remanufacturing or a material selection and combination tailored to the process steps of the different recycling technologies. Designing products and their respective product life cycles in a cascading circular fashion is required and sensible for a sustainable future. In addition, a circular product design ensures compliance with new EU regulations that must be considered for products sold on the European market in the near future. In collaboration with all stakeholders, DESIGN acts as a hub for the entire life cycle of a cascading-circular product: DESIGN makes necessary decisions that affect the different lifecycle phases in the initial design, accompanies users during the use phase by creating incentives for longer product use and formulating specific instructions for returning the product to the industry. Furthermore, DESIGN determines how much material can be recycled at the end of the product’s life through the choice of materials, material combination and selected finishing and treatment processes.