Project developers: all company departments
Partners: suppliers

Developing a product with an eco-design action at every stage of the life cycle

The product categories concerned

Context and description

Eco-design consists in integrating the environment from the design stage of a product or service and during every stage of its life cycle.

To develop an eco-designed product, it is essential to adopt a global approach and examine all of the stages of the life cycle.

It is for this reason that eco-design takes account of the extraction and transformation of raw materials, spinning, weaving,/ knitting, ennobling, manufacturing, distribution, use, care and end-of-life.

It's a global approach, based on compromise, which strives for environmental efficiency at every stage whilst providing an equal performance in relation to a non eco-designed product and whilst integrating budgetary, timeframe and marketing constraints.

IMPLEMENTATION

Average

Complexity of implementation

Average

Estimated economic gain

Average

Human means

6 months
1 season

Implementation timeframes

Average

Complexity of implementation

Average

Estimated economic gain

Average

Human means

6 months
1 season

Implementation timeframes

STAGES OF IMPLEMENTATION
Try it! : Follow the sheet step by step and have a go!
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  • Identify the product to be eco-designed: the brand can choose to improve an existing product or develop a new, eco-designed product (See Sheet: Try it!: Steering my eco-design initiative).

    Choose the date of my alert to complete this stage

  • Assess the product to be eco-designed : carry out an environmental assessment on the product's entire life cycle based on various criteria (on several categories of environmental impacts) in order to obtain a global vision of the product.

    Charting the life cycle is easier for an existing product than for a new product. Don't hesitate to take inspiration from an existing product (See Sheet: Try it!: Steering my eco-design initiative).

    Choose the date of my alert to complete this stage

  • If needs be, fine tune the first assessment via a life cycle analysis (LCA) or make use of existing life cycle analyses.

    Choose the date of my alert to complete this stage

  • List eco-design solutions for the stages with the most impacts. The eco-design guide published by the WWF provides a list of actions to put in place at every stage of the life cycle (See tool 1).

    Choose the date of my alert to complete this stage

  • Add to the panel of solutions available by finding additional and / or alternative solutions specific to the product, via the organisation of a collective intelligence meeting for example. It is possible to turn the cogs of eco-design (See tool 2 p.41)

    Choose the date of my alert to complete this stage

  • To facilitate future implementation, encourage collaboration with industrial partners, whether they are integrated or not, for the entire value chain and life cycle (such as spinning, ennobling and weaving / knitting).

    Choose the date of my alert to complete this stage

  • Ensure that the solutions selected do not provoke a transfer of pollution (do not generate an increase in impacts alongside a reduction).

    Choose the date of my alert to complete this stage

  • Decide on an eco-design action plan which takes account of several criteria: relevance (priority impacts), exhaustiveness (addressing all of the stages) and feasibility.

    Choose the date of my alert to complete this stage

  • Ask suppliers for a product prototype and submit it for quality tests in order to ensure that the product meets the organisation's specifications. A virtual prototype can also be used (which doesn't generate waste).

    Choose the date of my alert to complete this stage

  • Formalise feedback to duplicate the initiative with other products when the eco-designed product meets objectives and complies with specifications, namely with respect to quality.

    Choose the date of my alert to complete this stage

Identify the product to be eco-designed: the brand can choose to improve an existing product or develop a new, eco-designed product (See Sheet: Try it!: Steering my eco-design initiative).

Choose the date of my alert to complete this stage

Assess the product to be eco-designed : carry out an environmental assessment on the product's entire life cycle based on various criteria (on several categories of environmental impacts) in order to obtain a global vision of the product.

Charting the life cycle is easier for an existing product than for a new product. Don't hesitate to take inspiration from an existing product (See Sheet: Try it!: Steering my eco-design initiative).

Choose the date of my alert to complete this stage

If needs be, fine tune the first assessment via a life cycle analysis (LCA) or make use of existing life cycle analyses.

Choose the date of my alert to complete this stage

List eco-design solutions for the stages with the most impacts. The eco-design guide published by the WWF provides a list of actions to put in place at every stage of the life cycle (See tool 1).

Choose the date of my alert to complete this stage

Add to the panel of solutions available by finding additional and / or alternative solutions specific to the product, via the organisation of a collective intelligence meeting for example. It is possible to turn the cogs of eco-design (See tool 2 p.41)

Choose the date of my alert to complete this stage

To facilitate future implementation, encourage collaboration with industrial partners, whether they are integrated or not, for the entire value chain and life cycle (such as spinning, ennobling and weaving / knitting).

Choose the date of my alert to complete this stage

Ensure that the solutions selected do not provoke a transfer of pollution (do not generate an increase in impacts alongside a reduction).

Choose the date of my alert to complete this stage

Decide on an eco-design action plan which takes account of several criteria: relevance (priority impacts), exhaustiveness (addressing all of the stages) and feasibility.

Choose the date of my alert to complete this stage

Ask suppliers for a product prototype and submit it for quality tests in order to ensure that the product meets the organisation's specifications. A virtual prototype can also be used (which doesn't generate waste).

Choose the date of my alert to complete this stage

Formalise feedback to duplicate the initiative with other products when the eco-designed product meets objectives and complies with specifications, namely with respect to quality.

Choose the date of my alert to complete this stage

Key indicators

- Proportion of life cycle stages covered by eco-design actions.

- Number of solutions identified

Watch point

Remain attentive to the transfer of impacts to avoid false good ideas. 

 

To go one step further

Tool 1 : Eco-designing textile products - clothing

Tool 2 : Overseeing the launch of an eco-design initiative to improve company competitiveness

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©2021 Refashion. All rights reserved.

What is Eco design?

Eco design is a platform whose purpose is to provide information and assist textile and footwear brands to rise to the eco-design challenge. This platform is a Refashion initiative (formerly Eco TLC), a public authority-approved eco-organisation for the CHF industry (Clothing, Household linen and Footwear).

Our vision: a 100% circular textile and footwear industry.