Role of Design for Disassembly in Educating Consumers for Circular Behavior

Abstract

Promotion of durable materials and products is a common approach to enhance sustainability. However, the effectiveness of such efforts lies on shifts in user behavior and consumption patterns, and these patterns are influenced not only by material aspects but also by social and experiential dimensions. It has been observed that the consumers’ consumption pattern, i.e., post-consumption behavior, is as harmful as production. However, this area remains largely unexplored. The primary purpose of this study is to explore sustainable garment design strategies to enhance emotional durability of garments and reduce pre-consumer and most importantly, the post-consumer waste. For this purpose, 18 garments were produced using ZWPC for pre-consumption waste reduction and DFD for post-consumption waste minimization. Three hypotheses were developed. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through questionnaires and wear trials on the practicality of DFD implementation in garments. The results demonstrated that the combination of these strategies has the potential to curb both pre-consumer and post-consumer waste by designing garments that can enter the biological as well as technical cycle of circular fashion (CF). Furthermore, DFD is a success in increasing the use-life of a garment.