Ecodesign: How tech can drive solutions The 24 January 2025 - Première Vision Paris

As the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR)—in force since 18 July 2024—starts to take shape, technological solutions are evolving to meet its demands. Here’s a closer look at what the ESPR entails and the innovative tools rising to the challenge.

What is ecodesign?

The definition of ecodesign, as outlined in ISO 14006:2020, is a structured approach that integrates environmental considerations at the design and development stages, aiming to minimise negative impacts throughout a product’s lifecycle, taking the end of life into account right from the start.

The ESPR is central to the 2020 Circular Economy Action Plan, a package of measures designed to transition Europe towards a circular, sustainable, and competitive economy. It contributes to EU goals to double material circularity, achieve energy efficiency targets, and reduce environmental and climate impacts by 2030. It is setting minimum requirements for physical performance (durability, repairability, recyclability, environmental footprint) and involves the implementation of a DPP (Digital Product Passeport).

To achieve these ambitious goals, three priority axis stand out: durability, recycled content, and recyclability.

1. DURABILITY: less waste, more value

Products should first be designed for longevity. Designing garments that last longer and can be reused, upgraded, or repaired reduces waste and maximises value. Strategies like customisation, modularity, and cross-functionality enhance product lifespans.

Read also: Today’s eco-question: Is it possible to predict how long a garment will last?

New technologies are already facilitating this shift. Platforms like Save Your Wardrobe connect users with repair and care services, encouraging sustainable practices and improving customer engagement, while providing insights into lifecycle management. Similarly, the French company Prolong facilitates seamless and omni-channel Care & Repair services. This approach not only strengthens customer relationships but also offers critical data on a product’s lifecycle, identifying opportunities for improvement.

While these initiatives share the goal of extending a garment’s lifespan, their success depends on the garment’s intrinsic physical durability. This durability stems from the supplier’s expertise, the quality of fibres, and the technological mastery of machinery—all essential factors in creating true value.

When intrinsic value is present, it fosters emotional or “extrinsic” durability, further prolonging a product’s life and deepening its significance to the consumer.

But to avoid waste even at earlier production stages, companies like Smartex detect textile defects, Lectra optimises fabric use through AI-powered pattern improvement and nesting, and platforms like Browzwear and CLO3D enable virtual design and realistic 3D simulations, significantly reducing the need for physical prototypes while streamlining the design-to-production process.

Read also: Fashion and AI: Technologies geared towards more sustainable manufacturing practices

2. RECYCLED CONTENT: aiming for a fibre-to-fibre closed loop

While recycled fibres have a significantly lower carbon footprint than virgin fibres, only 1% of textiles are currently recycled into new textiles. Most recycled polyester still comes from PET bottles, which disrupts bottle recycling systems and results in textiles that are themselves non-recyclable.

Read also: Today’s eco-question: Can all materials be recycled?

Innovation is driving significant progress in the textile industry. In the realm of synthetic fibre recycling, chemical and enzymatic recycling technologies from companies such as Carbios, Eastman, Ambercycle, and Tex2Tex are advancing textile-to-textile solutions. Meanwhile, developments in man-made cellulosics, like Circulose, continue to gain momentum, repurposing cotton-rich fabrics into new materials. Innovations like Orange Fibre and Agraloop e.g. use waste materials from agriculture or food production to create man-made silky look and feel cellulosic fibres.

For cotton recycling, Weturn and its SaaS platform, Valo, offer a tailored solution to prevent the destruction of unsold goods by revalorising them into new textiles. Taking innovation even further, Säntis has developed a gentle mechanical process capable of producing 100% recycled long staple cotton.

At the retail level, HKRITA’s Garment-to-Garment (G2G) system demonstrates closed-loop recycling on a smaller scale, transforming post-consumer garments into new ones without water or chemicals.

In dye recycling, solutions like Recycrom (recycled textile pigments by Officina39) or reusing colours from recycled wool (like Manteco’s Recype® process) minimise the need for synthetic dyes. Sages London are creating pigments out of inedible food waste, creating a beautiful color palette and already collaborate with designers like Patrick McDowell.

Read also: Innovations in color chemistry – A detailed perspective on low-impact color in fashion / Part 2

3. RECYCLABILITY: enabling the opportunity of circularity

Recyclability remains one of the biggest design challenges. Monomaterial garments simplify recycling, a constraint that pushes the boundaries of creativity.
So called « hard parts » like buttons, zips, trims and embellishments pose another challenge: they must be removed before recycling. Designers need to rethink how many such additions are necessary.

Designers must be also conscious and aware of the specific recycling technologies, such as thermomechanical or chemical methods, to specifically know which materials to choose.

Read also: How to recycle pre- and post-consumption?

For polyester recycling, solutions fall into three categories: pure PET, PET-dominant blends, and PET/cotton mixes. Companies like Circ and Epoch are tackling polycotton (PET/cotton) separation, making fibre recovery possible with the help of AI.

The presence of more than 5% elastane in textile blends has traditionally hindered recyclability. However, several companies like Worn Again Technologies and research institutions are developing innovative methods to separate elastane from other fibres. A Swiss biotech firm focused on molecular bio-recycling, Rheiazymes has conducted studies identifying enzymes capable of degrading elastane fibres into their core components.

Sorting technologies like NIR-based systems show promise for identifying materials in fabric blends, but their accuracy decreases with multi-layered or blended fabrics containing three or more fibre types.

The EU is developing calculation methodologies to standardise ratings across industries, including Lifecycle assessment (LCA) tools to evaluate environmental impacts, verification audits to confirm compliance with sustainability criteria and weighting systems to balance different factors (e.g., recyclability vs. durability).

While details are still being finalised, the emphasis on durability, recycled content, and recyclability ensures that the ratings are comprehensive, fair, and aligned with the EU’s broader environmental goal.

Conclusion

The implementation of DPPs will play a key role in making ecodesign goals a reality. Beyond the LCA (Life Cycle Assessment), databases like Ecoinvent or the European PEF, still being improved and updated, companies like Fairly Made e.g help companies to map, gather, analyse and improve their Data collection, and tools like TextileGenesis enable up to scope 3 traceability and transparency, ensuring informed decisions throughout a garment’s lifecycle.

From idea to marketplace, ecodesign drives innovation and creativity, providing a pathway to projects that are both sustainable and commercially viable. The ultimate goal is a truly circular system, where waste becomes a valuable resource and virgin materials are no longer needed.