Hammarby Sjöstad becomes a test area for sustainable textile use
How can we influence consumers to take better care of and reuse their textiles? IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute will investigate this in a project funded by the research and innovation program “Design for an Energy-Efficient Everyday Life.” Hammarby Sjöstad in Stockholm will serve as a test area for trying out new solutions and raising awareness and knowledge on the topic.
“It feels both exciting and important to have the opportunity to dive into how we view and handle our clothes and other textiles. Our daily routines matter and can be changed to become more sustainable, which is fascinating to examine and influence,” says Simone Andersson, project manager at IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute.
The innovation program “Design for an Energy-Efficient Everyday Life” brings together design, energy efficiency, and behavior to contribute to increased efficiency and create long-term solutions, both in the home and in society at large.
The project led by IVL will develop new ways to change the consumption and maintenance of clothing and home textiles by testing different solutions in Hammarby Sjöstad. The central question is which behaviors and structures cause newly produced textiles to be constantly purchased, while functioning textiles are thrown away.
In addition to raising knowledge and awareness of sustainable textile use and reuse, the project aims to reduce residents’ purchases of new textiles and instead encourage them to reuse, patch, and repair more. The project also looks at how textile care behaviors can be improved to reduce energy consumption as well as water and chemical use.
“It will be fantastic to work with Hammarby Sjöstad’s more than 30,000 residents as a testbed. Together with our strong project partners, we look forward to spreading results, methods, and knowledge early in the process to more neighborhoods and communities in Sweden and internationally. Hopefully, we will soon see a clear shift, where for example quality purchases of new or second-hand textiles, repairs, laundry and drying routines together reduce energy use as well as the consumption of other resources,” says Simone Andersson.
For more information, please contact:
Simone Andersson, simone.andersson@ivl.se, +46 (0)10-788 66 61
The project “Energy saving through everyday textile management” will run for three years. Project partners are Electricity Innovation, Remondis, Slow Fashion Hub Stockholm, and IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute. It is one of seven projects funded within the research and innovation program “Design for an Energy-Efficient Everyday Life” in 2025. The program is run by the Swedish Energy Agency and coordinated by SVID, the Swedish Industrial Design Foundation.
- Swedish textile consumption causes over four million tonnes of Carbon dioxide emissions per year, and the net inflow of new textiles increased by 40 percent between 2000 and 2022.
- More than 90 percent of the climate emissions from Swedish textile consumption come from new production, and around 60 percent of discarded textiles could have been reused.
- On average, a Swede uses a T-shirt 30 times and washes it 15 times before replacing it with a new one. Doubling the usage time can halve the climate impact, provided that a newly produced garment is replaced.
- If Swedish households lowered the washing temperature from 40 to 30 degrees, we would save 261 million kWh per year, and clothes would last longer.
Sources: Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, SMED, IVL, Mistra Future Fashion, Electrolux