Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore consumers’ views and expectations on circular clothing. This paper also clarifies how the remanufacturing process should be communicated and circular fashion marketed to consumers. Design/methodology/approach: The research methodology consisted of consumer interviews, utilising an online innovation platform (Owela) to involve consumers and workshops with project partners and with external stakeholders. Findings: Consumers’ interest towards recycling and sustainable solutions has increased. They appreciate the idea of recycling textile waste to produce new clothes; circular products should become “the new normal”. Consumers are asking for more visible and concrete information about circular clothing and how their behaviour has affected the environmental aspects of textile production. The communication should be timed correctly by using multiple communication channels and also paying attention to the shopping experience. In addition, digital services alongside circular clothing could create additional value for consumers. Research limitations/implications: In this study, only consumers from Finland were involved. The results might be different in different parts of Europe and especially worldwide. Originality/value: This study focusses on circular clothing – an area that has not been studied much before. Also, consumers involved in this study were of a different age compared to most of the previous studies, where the focus has been mainly on young college students.

In this paper, we present a method that facilitates Internet of Things (IoT) for building a product passport and data exchange enabling the next stage of the circular economy. SmartTags based on printed sensors (i.e., using functional ink) and a modified GS1 barcode standard enable unique identification of objects on a per item-level (including Fast-Moving Consumer Goods—FMCG), collecting, sensing, and reading of parameters from environment as well as tracking a products’ lifecycle. The developed ontology is the first effort to define a semantic model for dynamic sensors, including datamatrix and QR codes. The evaluation of decoding and readability of identifiers (QR codes) showed good performance for detection of sensor state printed over and outside the QR code data matrix, i.e., the recognition ability with image vision algorithm was possible. The evaluation of the decoding performance of the QR code data matrix printed with sensors was also efficient, i.e., the QR code ability to be decoded with the reader after reversible and irreversible process of ink (dis)appearing was preserved, with slight drop in performance if ink density is low.

The bioeconomy can support Europe’s transition to a low-carbon economy and help to meet key international, European and member state sustainability targets through the provision of bio-based products and energy derived from sustainably sourced biomass. A successful implementation of a bio-based economy in Europe will, however, require a profound transformation of our production and consumption patterns. Consumer behavior will play a major role in supporting the successful transition to a bio-based economy. This paper uses a structured quantitative survey approach to gain an understanding of consumer perspectives in relation to bio-based products. Conducted among 18–75-year-old consumers in Ireland and the Netherlands, the study indicates that consumers in both countries have a relatively positive outlook regarding bio-based products, with Irish consumers showing a slightly more positive outlook. The study finds that a larger majority of Irish consumers would prefer buying bio-based products as opposed to fossil-based products, while Irish consumers also have a slightly more positive impression than Dutch consumers that their consumer choices can be beneficial for the environment.

This article presents a Finnish social design study that focuses on consumer perspectives and future expectations related to bio-based products and brands. The qualitative regional study addresses the global concern associated with sustainability of the bioeconomy. Because a gap in research was identified from the regional consumer perspective, the article presents a case study that was held with 50 consumers in Finland. The main research method was qualitative online focus group discussions, with an objective to gain an understanding of consumer behavior, motivations, concerns, and intentions related to bio-based products and brands. The results are presented according to the sustainability framework, which was constructed around four topics: (1) consumer awareness, (2) illustrated examples and their consumer acceptance, (3) consumption habits, and (4) future consumption behavior. The main findings indicate that Finnish consumers were extremely well-informed on the bio-based concept, and they trusted domestic regional brands the most. Throughout the research, Nordic consumers highlighted the role of companies and urged sensible science-based communication on the sustainability aspects. Finally, the results led to consider how the value-sensitive consumer insights may be utilized by proposing prominent impact assessment methods for decision-making in both the business and consumer sectors.