The Use of ISO 14062:2002 Sustainable Design Strategies of the Designers to Address SDG 12: Ensure Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns in the Export Apparel Industry in Sri Lanka

The textile and apparel industry is the second largest polluter in the world; hence, it is the primary export industry in Sri Lanka. Because of this high negative impact level of the industry, this chapter explains a study that investigated the impact of the export apparel industry in Sri Lanka on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)12: ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns to concise possible regulatory guidelines and suggestions for the Sri Lankan apparel Industry. Also, ISO 14062:2002 standards introduced eight sustainable product design strategies that can be used to ensure the goals of SDG12. Sri Lankan Apparel exports mainly cater to mass-market retailers; therefore, this study was conducted with mass-market-oriented apparel exports to get a broader impact. The study employed a mixed method where qualitative and quantitative elements were examined. Thirty-five designers with 3–20 years of experience in this sector were questioned through an online questionnaire. The answers were analysed based on a quantitative approach to find patterns. Ten designers with more than ten years of experience were interviewed to clarify the generated patterns of the online questionnaire. The outcomes revealed that the design process in mass-market-oriented apparel exports is mainly based on profits. However, they have to pay deep concentration to sustainability due to the pressure from external policies such as governments and other non-government organisations. Furthermore, the export apparel designers in Sri Lanka use ISO 14062:2002 sustainable design strategies based on two perspectives:  profit-oriented; and policy-oriented. Specific strategies still need to be considered thoroughly while designing with  profit orientation. Also, the effective use of land is heavily neglected during the design process due to the lack of awareness. However, it can make an impact on both profit and policy orientations. Based on the findings, the study suggested that the export apparel designers need more awareness, training, and support from higher management to implement the design strategies. Also, it is found that ISO 14062:2002 related sustainable design strategies should be refined and eloborated to get more outcomes to achieve SDG12. Finally, interpreting sustainable design strategies from a profit-oriented perspective can attract the mass-market apparel industry to actual, sustainable initiatives to achieve SDG12 more realistically. Therefore, more explorations are needed to fulfil that requirement.