The biggest challenge in textile products today is the use of multiple components and material compositions that are not compatible with the same recycling stream and cannot be easily disassembled, resulting in products that are ultimately destined for waste. Design for Recyclability (DfR) is a forward-thinking approach that focuses on making products recyclable right from the design stage. This concept goes beyond just reducing waste. It’s about rethinking how products are created, used, and repurposed to align with the principles of circularity.
For humanitarian aid organizations, the need for sustainable solutions is especially urgent. Aid products like blankets and tents are essential during crises, however, once their immediate purpose is served, they often end up as waste. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the humanitarian sector generates significant waste, with non-recyclable materials contributing to environmental harm in already vulnerable regions (UNHCR, 2020). This creates a complex challenge: addressing urgent human needs while minimizing harm to the environment.
Based on UNHCR Baseline Assessment, the relief tent accounts for the highest emissions of key relief items with 609 ktCO2e / million units. Due to the lower production rate, it is the second biggest GHG emission baseline product group.
What is Design for Recyclability?
Design for Recyclability (DfR) is a design methodology which enables products to be easily disassembled and recycled or repurposed during their end-of-life stage. Traditional design practices tend to only focus on functionality and cost but DfR evaluates environmental impacts across the entire product lifecycle.
Current Re-Design Scenarios: Tents
Our journey with key partners, H. Nizam Din & Sons Private Limited and Alpinter SA, began with developing recyclable humanitarian aid blankets. Building on that success, we have taken on the challenge of creating more sustainable humanitarian aid tents together with additional partners ShelterBox and NED University of Engineering & Technology.
Our Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the humanitarian aid tents, reveals that raw materials, particularly tarpaulin, are the main drivers of environmental impact.
Together with our industry partners, we are developing multiple design scenarios to demonstrate how tent designs can significantly reduce environmental impact. We engaged with humanitarian aid organizations involved in distribution efforts UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency and collaborated with field teams managing the camps of The International Organization for Migration (IOM). Their on-the-ground insights provided us with feedback to ensure our solutions align with the actual needs and conditions. We have designed three scenarios:
Scenario 1: Re-design for Durability & Longevity
We identified areas of the tents which are prone to tears and breakages and explored ways to improve durability and longevity in the redesign.
Scenario 2: Re-design for Disassembly & Easier Re-use
We assessed the campgrounds to identify missing essentials such as storage space, privacy, barriers, and hanging sheets, allowing us to determine what can be disassembled and reused from existing and/or used tents.
Scenario 3: Sustainable Material & Finishing Optimisations
We explored alternative materials for sustainability by identifying waste that can be recovered and used as input material, and by determining which tent components can be replaced with more sustainable alternatives.
Our holistic approach includes recommendations for material replacements or optimisations, improving durability, increasing recycled content, reviewing supply chain and transport emissions, easier repairability, easier disassembly for reuse and enhancing end-of-life recycling.
These initial assessments and pilot studies will evaluate the practicality and scalability of these strategies, ensuring they deliver meaningful operational and environmental outcomes. The results will be published during the world’s leading humanitarian aid and disaster relief event AidEx in Geneva, Switzerland on 22-23 October 2025.
