Design of e-textile and printed electronics applications for their life cycle

Innovative technologies such as printed electronics on thin and flexible substrates and conductive yarns, threads or fabrics allows the use of electronics in new applications such as textiles, smart packaging, or single use medical products. However, the lifetime of the original product and the add-on electronics are not always compatible. In this paper we explore typical applications of the above mentioned technologies and their related use patterns and life-times. We identify related environmental challenges and potential benefits for typical applications (SWOT analysis) and we describe eco-design strategies and provide practical design examples. The research shows that it is quite probable that current commercially available wearables such as smart watches or fitness tracker are used way shorter than their potential technical lifetime due to aesthetic, functional or usability reasons. To avoid this "premature obsolescence" of new wearable applications based on technologies still in research and development, we propose several eco-design strategies which a) should reduce the environmental footprint of the devices and b) enable reuse, repair and recycling of the devices, parts and materials. Those include the choice of sustainable and safe materials, resource-efficient design strategies, strategies to extend the use time e.g. through high reliability, timeless design and enabling repair and reuse through modularity. Finally different end-of-life eco-design strategies to enable composting or material recycling are presented. This paper should support researchers and product designers to develop more environmentally friendly materials, technologies and wearable applications.