A recent World Economic Forum (WEF) report estimated that “approximately $57 billion (£41.2billion) of global electronic waste is generated every year”. Consequently, the checks and environmental balances of technology integration are coming under close examination. Developments in e-Narrow Fabric technology allow designers to use e-textiles only where necessary and in a way that they can be disassembled for recycling more easily.
France-based textile manufacturer Satab Lab sees e-ribbons as a link between the two worlds of electronics and textiles for applications that include sports, medical, health and PPE. The e-ribbons are to play essential roles in smart textiles integrating sensors, RFIDs, LEDs power and data transmission. Although, integration and disassembly are a technological as well as a design challenge, at some point the matter of cleaning will present itself. And that is where our industry could step in and meet the ultimate PTC challenge!