We research the social and environmental impacts of furniture and textiles to promote sustainable production, consumption, and waste management, thereby supporting the development of a circular economy.
The furniture and textile industries face major environmental challenges related to resource use, greenhouse gas emissions, chemical use, and increasing waste volumes. At the same time, there is great potential for transformation towards circular solutions, such as increased reuse, material recycling, and more sustainable value chains. Our research provides knowledge that supports the transition to a system where product lifetimes are extended, resources remain in circulation, and social conditions in value chains are improved — for example, in the development of extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes.
We combine quantitative and qualitative methods such as life cycle assessment (LCA), social life cycle assessment (S-LCA), environmental product declarations (EPDs), material flow analysis (MFA), interviews, mapping, and scenario modelling to study environmental and social impacts throughout the value chain.
Our main focus is to identify measures that can reduce the environmental footprint of furniture and textiles while assessing how different policy instruments and consumer practices can support genuine circularity in the market. We also study consumer behaviour and awareness related to reuse, repurposing, and redesign of textiles.
Over time, we have built extensive knowledge about the quantities and composition of textiles and textile waste, as well as about alternative solutions for producer responsibility schemes for textiles. Our surveys of textile waste in Norway are widely cited, both in the media and by public authorities such as the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment..
