Circular economy: modular design

Modular design fits well into the concept of the circular economy and I would like to bring your attention to the different possibilities.

What are the benefits of modular textile items?

• disassembly for easy care: washing
• changing items for different looks or needs, like changing weather or size. The user need less items, which also influences the buying behaviour of the user.
• It is possible to buy new parts and spare parts to change an item when a piece is broken or not desired anymore.
• A user could swap pieces with peers

There is modular and modular
There are different ways of making a modular design with textiles. A designer could use zippers, buttons, velcro, press studs ribbons or other ways to connect different parts together. This makes the design modular, but not necessarily suitable for the circular economy. As it is important that materials are not mixed and can be recycled.

Separation of different materials can be done for example by:

• cutting off buttons, zippers etc. prior to recycling.
• A special dissolvable yarn can be used to easily separate the haberdashery.
• Using textile interlocking systems

Textile interlocking systems

New business models
Making an item suitable for the circular economy does not only mean using the right material and interlocking system that makes disassembly easy. It also requires new business models:

• ​When having so many modular mixing options it is unnecessary for a user to own them all. Why not rent them?
• A designer could start selling patterns of new designs of which the pieces are already owned by the user, the pattern can be home printed by the user.
• A community membership could be set up to share ideas, patterns and pieces.

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For more inspiration you could type in modular design or interlocking textiles at Pinterest