Cradle to Cradle: How design determines circularity

In many industries, products are still manufactured according to a linear principle. Raw materials are extracted, processed and used, before ultimately being discarded. This linear model results in growing volumes of waste, high resource consumption and increasing pressure on the environment and ecosystems. This is where Cradle to Cradle comes in.

Cradle to Cradle-certified products are designed in such a way that the materials used can be continued as biological or technical nutrients in cycles after the use phase and do not end up as waste.

To better understand what a consistent circular approach means in textile practice, we spoke with founder Heike Schnell from Wellicious, a yoga and activewear label. The conversation shows how circularity is decided in early design and material choices and which structural, technical and economic limits become visible in the process.

Wellicious is one of the early players in the field of circular-oriented yoga and activewear. After several years of research, Wellicious developed its own circular material solutions and relaunched the brand in 2022 with a fully Cradle-to-Cradle-certified collection. Today, all products are Cradle to Cradle Certified® Gold, with a Platinum rating in the area of material health. The supply chain includes certified partners in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Bulgaria. Wellicious operates a take-back system for worn-out products and additionally offers repair options to extend the lifespan of the textiles.

Biological cycle vs. technical cycle

Cradle to Cradle distinguishes between two separate cycles in which materials should circulate. This separation is crucial in order to preserve material properties and avoid misdirected flows.

The technical cycle is intended for materials that cannot be biologically degraded, such as recyclable polyester, polyamide or other synthetic fibres. Products assigned to this cycle must be designed in such a way that they can be disassembled, sorted and further processed again at the end of their use. The aim is to retain these materials as so-called technical nutrients across multiple use cycles, without any significant loss in quality.

However, it is not only the material itself that matters, but also how it is processed and what happens to it after use. For recyclable polyester or polyamide to remain within the technical cycle, for example, they must be free from problematic additives, clearly identifiable and separable within the product, and ideally integrated into a functioning take-back or recycling system. In many sports garments, polyamide is bonded or coated with other materials, making further processing almost impossible. In such cases, the potential of the technical cycle is not realised.

Materials that can re-enter natural systems after use belong to the biological cycle. The key requirement is that they contain no harmful substances and are able to decompose under appropriate conditions. After use, they should break down and return to natural material cycles as nutrients.
Wellicious, for example, uses GOTS-certified organic cotton in combination with a Cradle to Cradle Platinum-certified elastane fibre.

Five key criteria 

A Cradle to Cradle certified product must meet five strict standards:

• Material health: Materials must be harmless for both humans and the environment.
• Product circularity: Products should be designed in such a way that they contribute to circular systems and regenerative processes.
• Clean air & climate protection: Production must reduce emissions, promote renewable energy and protect air quality.
• Water & soil stewardship: Water resources must be used responsibly and soil health preserved.
• Social fairness: Human rights, safe working conditions and fair practices are fundamental.

Recycling vs. Cradle to Cradle

Recycling generally starts at the end of a product’s life. A product is used, then collected and sorted, and the materials it contains are reprocessed, as far as technically and economically possible. The aim is to replace virgin raw materials and reduce waste volumes. In practice, however, recycling is often associated with quality or material losses and the introduction of harmful substances. In addition, many products are not designed for recycling, which makes high-quality recovery difficult or impossible, with the result that globally only around 1% of textiles are actually recycled.

Cradle to Cradle, by contrast, is primarily a design and systems approach that begins before production even starts. From the outset, products are designed so that their materials can be intentionally and fully returned to biological or technical cycles after use. Recycling is only one of several possible pathways within the technical cycle. What matters most is not maximising waste recovery efficiency, but preventing waste altogether through a consistently circular system. As Heike Schnell of Wellicious points out, Cradle to Cradle requires a clear commitment at the very beginning of product development, since material choices, processing methods and supply chains must be aligned with future recovery from the start.

Why our current economic system reaches its limits

Production and consumption remain largely focused on minimising costs and maximising sales, while the downstream costs of resource use, environmental pollution and the release of harmful substances are typically externalised. As a consequence, materials rapidly lose their value once a product reaches the end of its use.
In systems designed around short-term use and linear value creation, materials are mixed, bonded or chemically treated without regard for their later recovery. This leads to complex waste streams that can only be recycled with significant effort, or not at all.

Cradle to Cradle does more than optimise individual products; it fundamentally questions the logic of value creation. Rather than treating resources as disposable inputs, materials are viewed as permanently usable components within a system. This shift requires rethinking the entire value chain, from design and material selection to business models and take-back and usage systems.

Rather than trying to reduce damage afterwards, the focus shifts to designing products so they are part of effective recovery and use systems from the very start.

The key to successful material cycles

According to Heike Schnell of Wellicious, even minor contamination, such as polyester particles in the production environment, can prevent a product from being reliably returned to the biological cycle. Circularity therefore depends not only on the choice of appropriate materials, but on the continuous interaction between design decisions and process control throughout the entire production chain.

This includes clearly defined workflows, separated production environments, and the careful selection and coordination of suppliers and partners. In this sense, Cradle to Cradle demands a high level of consistency and coordination and extends well beyond conventional design decisions.

Limits of the Cradle-to-Cradle approach

Implementing Cradle to Cradle requires a high degree of transparency, control and coordination. In particular, the detailed requirements for material analysis, documentation and regular external audits involve substantial organisational and financial effort. The development of Cradle-to-Cradle-certified products also presented challenges for Wellicious: long development phases and a limited pool of suitable materials and suppliers make scaling difficult.
In addition, the approach depends on functioning infrastructure. Cradle to Cradle assumes that, after use, materials can in fact be returned to appropriate biological or technical cycles.

Cradle to Cradle demonstrates that circularity is the result of conscious decisions made throughout the entire product life cycle, and highlights how closely design, material choices, processes and systems are interconnected.

The certification helps to show how decisions made today can have long-term effects, particularly as requirements, standards and assessment frameworks continue to evolve. In this context, durability, repair, waste prevention and recycling remain central and enduring principles.

Further information on Wellicious’ implementation of the Cradle-to-Cradle approach can be found here.