Imagine if every piece of furniture had a digital birth certificate that told you exactly how to repair, reuse, or recycle it. This project creates a guidebook and digital tools to help furniture makers stop wasting materials and start making products that last. It is like giving the whole industry a new blueprint for sustainable business.
Furniture manufacturers struggle to transition to a circular economy due to a lack of practical business models and the technical challenge of tracking material lifecycles for EU regulation compliance.
The project is building Digital Product Passports (DPP), circular design strategies, and training materials for 50 companies to adopt circular business models.
If you are a furniture producer dealing with strict new EU waste regulations — this project developed Digital Product Passports that track material origins and recycling paths. This allows you to comply with ESPR rules while reducing raw material costs.
If you are a retailer dealing with high product return rates and waste — this project developed circular business models that prioritize repair and reuse. This helps you create new revenue streams from refurbished goods.
If you are a public procurer dealing with sustainability mandates for office fit-outs — this project developed circular design strategies. This ensures the furniture you buy today can be easily disassembled and repurposed in the future.
Based on available project data, specific pricing or implementation costs are not listed, but the project provides training materials to help 50 companies implement these systems.
Yes, the project includes 9 pilot projects and a large-scale phase where 50 companies will use the training materials to implement the systems.
Based on available project data, there is no specific mention of licensing terms; however, the project focuses on creating a Community of Practice for knowledge exchange.
The project specifically supports the adoption of the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) through the use of Digital Product Passports.
The project runs from 2024-11-01 to 2028-10-31.
The consortium is heavily industry-weighted with 11 industry partners (44% ratio), including 8 SMEs. The presence of 25 partners across 7 countries, including several national and regional furniture associations, ensures that the resulting tools are grounded in actual market needs rather than just academic theory.
Contact INTERDISZIPLINARES FORSCHUNGSZENTRUM FUR TECHNIK, ARBEIT UND KULTUR in Austria
Contact us to find out how to join the Community of Practice for circular furniture.
