Recycling & Waste Reduction: The Important Role of the Designer

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • Carp, Belinda

• This was the sound advice given by British designer Vivienne Westwood, when she was asked in 2018 about ethical and environmental issues in the fashion industry. It remains equally valid in 2020 and will continue to be the ethical code by which we should shop in the future. People in the textile and apparel industry are well aware of their responsibility to create a more sustainable supply chain, to reduce waste in production processes, and to recycle materials whenever possible. And much of the responsibility for these activities starts with the design team—groups of unsung heroes who have to juggle budgets, logistics, strategic plans, technology, aesthetics, functionality, and so much more.
  Designing goods for sustainability can mean many things—including:
  • designing high quality, durable products;
  • designing products that can be disassembled easily at their end-of-life, so that the
  materials and components can be easily recycled;
  • designing products which are made from organic, biodegradable, reclaimed or
  recycled materials and components;
  • designing products which generate a minimal amount of waste and pollution during
  their manufacture;
  • designing products which can be manufactured using machinery that can run on
  renewable energy, and consume a minimal amount of water; and
  • choosing manufacturing locations and distribution methods to minimize
  carbon emissions.

• Date created

  2020-04-01

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Chemistry
  • Engineering
  • Materials science

• Type of Item

  Article (Published)

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-tedw-c545

• License

  Use of this product is restricted to current faculty, staff, and students of the University. It is the responsibility of each user to ensure that he or she uses this product for individual, non-commercial educational or research purposes only, and does not systematically download or retain substantial portions of information. Users may not reproduce or redistribute unprocessed/raw data portions of the data to any third party, or otherwise engage in the systematic retransmission or commercialization of the data.