Applications of Printed and Organic Electronics : How printed and organic electronics can facilitate circular business models in the fashion industry through traceability

Abstract: Printed and organic electronics have been intensely researched in the past few years, and their potential low-cost and sustainability benefits combined with their unique form properties makes them interesting from a product design perspective. However, there has been a lack of product design with printed and organic electronics, which has created a gap between research and market. The aim of this thesis is to find an application of printed and organic electronics in a previously unexplored application area. The thesis includes interviews and workshops with relevant actors, a SWOT analysis, and idea generation through brainstorming. It is found that printed and organic traceability tags (RFID/NFC) have the potential to facilitate circular business models in the fashion industry if they are developed to fulfil the identified requirements.  Three concepts of how traceability tags can facilitate rental fashion are developed. The main identified potential benefits for the rental companies are reduced logistics costs and the possibility of data collection. The potentially low cost of printed and organic traceability tags would also enable rental companies with smaller profit margins to implement a digital traceability solution which would help the survival of these companies and accelerate the shift towards circular fashion. These findings contribute with a new possible application of printed and organic electronics. In order to reach the identified benefits, more research on printed and organic traceability tags is needed, as well as a full product development process of the three concepts. To really know whether this and other identified applications of POE could be viable on the market there is a need for economic and performance analysis to determine whether their applications can be successful. Further the authors also see a need for life cycle analyses on all types of POE applications to determine their environmental impact.