Funding topic 3: Development, design and acceptance of environmentally friendly consumer goods

The development, design and acceptance of environmentally friendly products is an essential tool for reducing resource consumption and negative environmental impacts. Of particular interest here are durable consumer goods such as furniture, electronic devices, household appliances, textiles, vehicles and toys. These are defined by a longer period of use. Environmental impacts occur both during production and in the use and after-use phases. The aim of the funding is to make consumer goods more environmentally friendly, to increase their acceptance and to support the change in social values towards such products.

Eligible applicants include, but are not limited to:

• the elaboration and testing of new methodical product development concepts;
• The development of consumer goods and their components with low resource consumption, taking into account the entire life cycle (e.g. resource minimization in the use phase, material minimization, durability, ease of maintenance and repair, recyclability);
• Incentivize and test new business models that increase the utility of consumer goods and/or reduce their negative environmental impacts, particularly by improving their recyclability and increasing their intensity of use;
• innovative measures for the digitalization of production processes (e.g. in the areas of “Internet of Things” or “decentralized manufacturing”) that lead to a sustainable design of material and energy flows;
• innovative concepts for the further use and recycling of used materials;
• awareness raising, measures for better acceptance and better education in business and society (especially among children and young people) for the technical realization and use of sustainably designed consumer goods;
• The development of valid decision-making tools for the purchase and use of environmentally friendly consumer goods.

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