Les filières de valorisation de déchets ont été mises en place au cours des dernières années pour répondre à des pressions économiques, sociétales, environnementales et réglementaires. Pour que les produits en fin de vie soient valorisés au mieux, il faut que leur conception soit adaptée aux spécificités des différents acteurs de la filière. L’étape de prétraitement consiste en la séparation des différents composants et matières des déchets. C’est une étape essentielle pour la valorisation de produits complexes comme les DEEE (déchets d’équipements électriques et électroniques), qui sont l’objet de ces travaux. Nos recherches bibliographiques montrent que les méthodes de conception existantes pour la valorisation ne prennent en compte ni la diversité et la nature des pratiques de prétraitement ni les raisons qui poussent à réaliser chacune d’elles. Afin de comprendre l’expertise liée à ces pratiques, nous avons réalisé deux modèles.En premier lieu, un modèle macroscopique nous a permis d’identifier les grands facteurs qui affectent le fonctionnement des opérateurs de prétraitement. Il a été établi en deux étapes : la première étape consiste en la caractérisation des opérateurs de traitement ; la deuxième étape s’attache à la classification des opérateurs de traitement. Afin de développer ce modèle nous nous sommes appuyés sur deux études descriptives de la filière DEEE française. Une étude descriptive qualitative nous a permis d’identifier les raisons qui poussent les opérateurs à réaliser les différentes stratégies de fin de vie et les processus de prétraitement. Une analyse statistique en composantes principales (ACP), a été réalisée afin de développer une classification des opérateurs de prétraitement.Dans un deuxième temps, dans le but d’identifier quels sont les conséquences de certains choix de conception pour la fin de vie, nous avons développé une méthode d’analyse systématique et détaillée du traitement réalisé par un type spécifique d’opérateur de DEEE. Celle-ci nous a permis d’obtenir un modèle microscopique des activités. Afin de développer et d’appliquer la méthode, nous nous sommes focalisés sur le désassemblage manuel d’écrans plats en vue de leur recyclage. Nous avons obtenu des données quantitatives qui constituent des preuves solides pour soutenir le développement de recommandations d’éco-conception. Avec ce modèle nous pouvons développer des indicateurs et des règles de conception quantitatives utilisables en conception de produit.Les modèles macro et microscopiques sont des instruments d’acquisition des connaissances sur l’expertise de centres de traitement qui peuvent être adaptés pour une utilisation dans d’autres filières de valorisation de déchets. / Compliance schemes have been stablished in recent years to alleviate the burden of economical, societal, environmental and regulatory pressures. To ensure the best recovery of end-of-life products, their design has to meet the requirements of the different waste management operators. The pre-treatment phase consists on the separation of components and materials from waste. It is an essential step when recovering complex product such as waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), which is the focus of this research work. The literature research shows that design for recovery methods do not take into account the diversity and nature of pre-treatment practices or the reasons behind them. In order to increase the understating related to these practices we have developed two models.The first one is a macroscopic model whose aim is to identify the main factors that influence the activity of pre-treatment operators. The development of the method involved two main steps: the characterization and the classification of pre-treatment operators. Two descriptive studies of the French WEEE compliance scheme have been carried out in order to develop the method. A qualitative descriptive study allowed us to identify the reasons why operators realize the different recovery strategies and pretreatment process. A descriptive statistical analysis, more specifically, a principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to develop a classification of the pretreatment operators.The second model that has been developed, a microscopic one, contains detailed information about the treatment operations carried out by one specific type of operator. The aim of this model is to identify what the best and worst design choices are in order to improve product’s pre-treatment. We have proposed a method for manual disassembly analysis to support the ecodesign of flat panel displays. The method enables to obtain quantitative data that provide solid evidence to support the development of eco-design guidelines. It also enables the development of disassembly indicators and recommendations to be used in product design.The macro and microscopic models are instruments of knowledge acquisition on pre-treatment practices that may be applicable to other compliance schemes.

The Runx family of transcription factors performs an essential role in animal development by controlling gene expression programs that mediate cell proliferation, growth and differentiation. The work described in this thesis is concerned with understanding mechanisms by which Runx proteins support this program of gene expression within the architectural context of the mammalian cell nucleus. Multiple aspects of nuclear architecture are influenced by Runx2 proteins including sequence-specific DNA binding at gene regulatory regions, organization of promoter chromatin structure, and higher-order compartmentalization of proteins in nuclear foci. This work provides evidence for several functional activities of Runx2 in relation to architectural parameters of gene. expression for the control of cell growth and differentiation. First, the coordination of SWI/SNF mediated chromatin alterations by Runx2 proteins is found to be a critical component of osteoblast differentiation for skeletal development. Several chromatin modifying enzymes and signaling factors interact with the developmentally essential Runx2 C-terminus. A patent-pending microscopic image analysis strategy invented as part of this thesis work - called intranuclear informatics - has contributed to defining the C-terminal portion of Runx2 as a molecular determinant for the nuclear organization of Runx2 foci and directly links Runx2 function with its organization in the nucleus. Intranuclear informatics also led to the discovery that nuclear organization of Runx2 foci is equivalently restored in progeny cells following mitotic division - a natural perturbation in nuclear structure and function. Additional microscopic studies revealed the sequential and selective reorganization of transcriptional regulators and RNA processing factors during progression of cell division to render progeny cells equivalently competent to support Runx2 mediated gene expression. Molecular studies provide evidence that the Runx proteins have an active role in retaining phenotype by interacting with target gene promoters through sequence-specific DNA binding during cell division to support lineage-specific control of transcriptional programs in progeny cells. Immunolocalization of Runx2 foci on mitotic chromosome spreads revealed several large foci with pairwise symmetry on sister chromatids; these foci co-localize with the RNA polymerase I transcription factor, Upstream Binding Factor (UBFl) at nucleolar organizing regions. A series of experiments were carried out to reveal that Runx2 interacts directly with ribosomal DNA loci in a cell cycle dependent manner; that Runx2 is localized to UBF foci within nucleoli during interphase; that Runx2 attenuates rRNA synthesis; and that this repression of ribosomal gene expression by Runx2 is associated with cell growth inhibition and induction of osteoblast-specific gene expression. This thesis has identified multiple novel mechanisms by which Runx2 proteins function within the hierarchy of nuclear architecture to control cell proliferation, growth and differentiation.

Chromatin has a compact organization in which most DNA sequences are structurally inaccessible and functionally inactive. Reconfiguration of thechromatir required to activate transcription. This reconfiguration is achieved by the action of enzymes that covalently modify nucleosomal core histones, and by enzymes that disrupt histone-DNA interactions via ATP hydrolysis. TheSWI/SNF family of ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling enzymes has been implicated not only in gene activation but also in numerous cellular processes including differentiation, gene repression, cell cycle control, recombination and DNA repair. PPARγ, C/EBPα and C/EBPβ are transcription factors with well established roles in adipogenesis. Ectopical expression of each of these factors in non-adipogenic cells is sufficient to convert them to adipocyte-like cells. To determine the requirements of SWI/SNF enzymes in adipocyte differentiation, we introduced PPARγ, C/EBPα or C/EBPβ into fibroblasts that inducibly express dominant-negative versions of the Brahma-Related Gene 1 (BRG1) or human Brahma (BRM), which are the ATPase subunits of the SWI/SNF enzymes. We found that adipogenesis and expression of adipocyte genes were inhibited in the presence of mutant SWI/SNF enzymes. Additionally, in cells expressing C/EBPα or C/EBPβ, PPARγ expression was SWI/SNF dependent. These data indicate the importance of these remodeling enzymes in both early and late gene activation events. Subsequently, we examined by chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay the functional role of SWI/SNF enzymes in the activation of PPARγ2, the master regulator of adipogenesis. Temporal analysis of factors binding to the PPARγ2 promoter showed that SWI/SNF enzymes are required to promote preinitiation complex assembly and function. Additionally, our studies concentrated on the role of C/EBP family members in the activation of early and late genes during adipocyte differentiation. During adipogenesis, C/EBPβ and δ are rapidly and transiently expressed and are involved in the expression of PPARγ and C/EBPα, which together activate the majority of the adipocyte genes. Our studies determined the temporal recruitment of the C/EBP family at the promoters of early and late genes by ChIP assay during adipocyte differentiation. We found that all of the C/EBP members evaluated are present at the promoters of early and late genes, and the binding correlated with the kinetics of the C/EBPs expression. Binding of C/EBPβ and δ is transient, subsequently being replaced by C/EBPα. These studies demonstrated that C/EBPβ and δ are not only involved in the regulation of PPARγ and C/EBPα, but also in the activation of late expressed adipocyte genes.

Le fractionnement de quatre biomasses herbacées modèles présentes ou cultivées dans l’estuaire de la Loire est étudié pour la production d’agrofibres adaptées à leur usage dans les matériaux composites écoconçus pour la construction. Les biomasses caractérisées chimiquement et physicochimiquement sont traitées par trois technologies de complexité croissante : le broyeur à marteaux permettant une fragmentation transversale et longitudinale radiale, le défibrage mécanique orientant les contraintes de façon longitudinale radiale et tangentielle, et le défibrage thermomécanique permettant un raffinage à l’échelle de la fibre élémentaire. Le Foin des Marais, modèle de mélange d’herbacées composé de tiges portant des feuilles, endémiques de prairies mésohygrophiles, est une source d'agrofibres cellulo-hémicellulosiques peu lignifiées (ratio cellulose/hémicelluloses/lignines 50/40/10) présentant un très fort taux de composés hydrosolubles (17 à 27% de MS), très hydrophiles (ratio liquide/solide à saturation L/Ssat entre 5,2 et 9,7), relativement fines (facteur de forme L/D >10) et de petites dimensions (moins de 5 cm) permettant l’obtention d’une grande gamme de densité de mats (37 à 112 kg/m3) et ayant une bonne aptitude à l’auto-assemblage sous contrainte. La Rouche, modèle de mélange d’herbacée composés de feuilles ayant des tiges, endémique de prairies hygrophiles, est une source d'agrofibres cellulo-hémicellulosiques peu lignifiées (ratio 50/40/10) présentant un fort taux de composés hydrosolubles (16% de MS), hydrophiles (L/Ssat entre 4,1 et 10,7), fournissant une large gamme de morphologie d’agrofibres allant jusqu’à 13cm de long pour des L/D de 100, formant des mats de 32 à 121 kg/m3, et ayant une bonne aptitude à l’autoassemblage. La Canne de Roseau (Phragmites australis), modèle de tiges creuses rigides, endémiques des bas marais, est une source d'agrofibres rigides beaucoup plus lignifiées (ratio 50/30/20) contenant peu de composés hydrosolubles (6 à 8% de MS), thermostables jusqu’à 220°C et relativement peu hydrophiles (L/Ssat de 3,4) si elles ne sont pas trop déstructurées, ne générant que de agrofibres courtes (moins de 5 cm) et de faible finesse (L/D <15). Les tiges de Mélilots jaune et blanc (Melilotus officinalis et Melilotus alba), dicotylédones à croissance secondaire adaptée à la culture sur les terrains de l’estuaire de la Loire, s’est avéré produire deux classes d’agrofibres. La première est composée d’agrofibres longues, extractibles du cortex de la tige, souples et essentiellement cellulosiques (ratio 75/15/10) pouvant aller jusqu’à 16cm de long (L/D>100), formant des mats de 38 à 42 kg/m3; la seconde classe d’agrofibres macroporeuses courtes et rigides extractibles du bois, beaucoup plus lignifiées (ratio 65/15/20), ayant très peu d’extractibles (2 à 3% de MS), et peu hydrophiles (L/Ssat entre 2,5 et 2,8). Un nouveau procédé d’extraction d’agrofibres longues (dm à cm) courtes (cm à mm), et ultra courtes (mm à μm) est développé. Des agrofibres sélectionnées sont mises en oeuvre avec de la colle de caséine dans des agrocomposites basse densité type blocs isolants thermiques (40 à 82 mW/m*K) et phoniques (indice d'affaiblissement sonore entre 0,18 et 1,2 dB(A)/mm) ; avec de la colle d’os dans des agrocomposites haute densité type panneaux de particules et de fibres (D jusqu’à 1,3 g/cm3, Eflexion jusqu’à 3,9 GPa et σmax flexion jusqu’à 39 MPa) ; ainsi qu’avec une matrice thermoplastique recyclable (PP+PPMA) chargées jusqu’à 40% en agrofibres et présentant une tenue mécanique jusqu’à 5 fois plus élevée en traction et en flexion. Parallèlement, les graines de Mélilots sont caractérisées, et se révèlent être riche en protéines (31 à 32% de MS) et avoir un fort potentiel en fraction extractible aqueuse (34 à 36% de MS) contenant des galactomannanes. Le raffinage de cette agroressources a été entrepris en vue de l'obtention de liants pour des agrocomposites. / The fractionation of four Loire estuary herbaceous biomasses models, endemic or cultivated, have been studied for their agrofibre production potential and adapted for their use in composite materials for ecodesigned construction. Chemically and physicochemically characterized biomasses have been processed by three increasingly complex technologies: hammer-mill that provides transversal and radial longitudinal fragmentation, mechanical defibration orienting the constraints in radial and tangential longitudinal way, and thermomechanical defibration that provides a refining at the scale of elementary fibre. Hay of Swamps, a herbaceous model made of a mix of stem bearing leaves, endemic of mésohygrophile land, is a source of few lignified cellulo-hemicellulosic agrofibres (50/40/10 ratio cellulose/hemicelluloses/lignin) with a very high rate of water-soluble compounds (17 to 27% of DM), very hydrophilic (saturation liquid/solid ratio L/Ssat between 5.2 and 9.7), relatively thin (shape factor L/D >10) and small size (less than 5 cm) allowing mats with large density range (37 to 112 kg/m3) with good self-assembling properties. Rouche, a herbaceous model made of a mix of leaves with stem, endemic of hygrophile land, is a source of little lignified cellulo-hemicellulosic agrofibres (50/40/10 ratio) with a high rate of water-soluble compounds (16% de DM), hydrophilic (L/Ssat between 4.1 et 10.7), producing a large agrofibres morphology range, up to 13cm long and L/D to 100, and allowing mats with density of 32 to 121 kg/m3, with good self-assembling properties. Reed (Phragmites australis), stiff hollow stems model, endemic of low-marsh, is a source of highly lignified stiff agrofibres (50/30/20 ratio) with a low rate of water-soluble compound (6 to 8% of DM), thermostable up to 220°C and relatively little hydrophilic (L/Ssat= 3.4) if they are not too much destructured, producing only short agrofibres (less than 5 cm) with low thinness (L/D <15). Yellow and white sweet clovers stem (Melilotus officinalis and Melilotus alba), secondary growth dicotyledon able to be cultivated on estuary land, provides two kinds of agrofibre. The first kind is stem cortex extractable long agrofibres, flexible and primarily cellulosic (75/15/10 ratio) up to 16cm long (L/D>100 and allowing light mat with density of 38 to 42 kg/m3. The second kind is secondary xylem extractable macroporous short and stiff agrofibres, highly lignified (ratio 65/15/20), with a very low rate of water-soluble compounds (2 to 3% of DM), and little hydrophilic (L/Ssat between 2.5 and 2.8). A new extraction process of long (from decimetric to centimetric length), short (from centimetric to millimetric length), and ultra-short (from millimetric to micrometric length) agrofibres had been developed. Selected agrofibres are processed with casein glue in low density agrocomposites such as insulating material (40 to 82 mW/m*K and sound reduction factor between 0.18 to 1.2 dB(A)/mm) ; with bones glue in high density agrocomposites such as particle board and fibreboard (D until 1.3 g/cm3, Eflexion until 3.9 GPa et σmax flexion until 39 MPa) ; thus with a recyclable thermoplastic matix (PP+PPMA) loaded until 40% of agrofibres, having a tensile and flexure mechanical strength almost 5 time higher. In parallel the sweet clover seeds had been characterized, and demonstrate to be rich in proteins (31 to 32% of DM) and to have a great potential in being water-extractable (34 to 36% of DM) containing, among other, galactomannans. The refining of this agroresources has been undertaken in the development of new binding materials for agrocomposites.

Det här examensarbetet ifrågasätter och undersöker vår användning och återanvändning av plaster, och går sedan vidare med att gestalta en sittmöbel i återanvänd och återvunnen plast. Syftet är att lyfta materialen, problematiken, och påvisa att vi faktiskt kan ge materialen fler liv. Plaster har revolutionerat våra samhällen och gjorde det modena livet möjligt, men vår linjära och därför också bristfälliga hantering av dem har gjort att de nu kommit att göra otroligt stor skada. Plaster är material som tillhör den tekniska sfären, men på grund av att de inte hålls där gör de skada i den biologiska sfären och allt som lever i den. Vi behöver ta ansvar och angripa problemet från flera olika håll samtidigt. Återvinning och återanvändning är två av många sätt. Syftet med arbetet är att ge nytt liv till två typer av plastavfall. Dels återvunnen plast (kylskåp och tangentbord) i form av skivmaterial från The Good Plastic Company, och det andra är återanvänd täckplast (engångsalternativ till pressening) från Bullandö marina AB.

Heterochromatin is a silenced chromatin region essential for maintaining genomic stability in eukaryotes and for driving developmental processes in higher organisms. A hallmark of heterochromatin is the presence of specialized architectural proteins that alter chromatin structure to inhibit transcription and recombination. Although it is generally assumed that heterochromatin is highly condensed, surprisingly little is known about the structure of heterochromatin or its dynamics in solution. In budding yeast, heterochromatin assembly at telomeres and the HM silent mating type loci requires the Sir proteins: Sir3, believed to be the major structural component of SIR heterochromatin, and the Sir2/4 complex, responsible for SIR recruitment to silencing regions and deacetylation of lysine 16 of the histone H4 tail, a mark associated with active chromatin. A combination of sedimentation velocity, atomic force microscopy, and nucleosomal array capture was used to characterize the stoichiometry and conformation of SIR nucleosomal arrays. The results indicate that Sir3 interacts with nucleosomal arrays with a stoichiometry of two Sir3 monomers per nucleosome, and that Sir2/4 may additionally bind at a ratio of one per nucleosome. Despite Sir3’s ability to repress transcription in vivo and homologous recombination in vitro in the absence of Sir2/4, Sir3 fibers were found to be significantly less compact than canonical magnesium-induced 30 nanometer fibers. However, heterochromatin fibers composed of all three Sir proteins did adopt a more condensed, globular structure. These results suggest that heterochromatic silencing is mediated both by the creation of more stable nucleosomes and by the steric exclusion of external factors.

Repairing a chromosomal DNA double strand break is essential for survival and maintenance of genomic integrity of a eukaryotic organism. The eukaryotic cell has therefore evolved intricate mechanisms to counteract all sorts of genomic insults in the context of chromatin structure. Modulating chromatin structure has been crucial and integral in regulating a number of conserved repair processes along with other fundamental genomic processes like replication and transcription. The work in this dissertation has focused on understanding the role of chromatin remodeling enzymes in the repair of a chromosomal DNA double strand break by homologous recombination. This has been approached by recapitulating the biochemical formation of recombination intermediates on chromatin in vitro. In this study, we have demonstrated that the mere packaging of DNA into nucleosomal structure does not present a barrier for successful capture of homologous DNA sequences, a central step of the biochemical pathway of recombinational repair. It is only the assembly of heterochromatin-like more complex nucleo-protein structure that presents additional constraints to this key step. And, this additional constraint can be overcome by the activities of ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling enzymes. These findings have great implications for our perception of the mechanism of the recombinational repair process of a chromosomal DNA double strand break within the eukaryotic genome.

Eukaryotic DNA is incorporated into the nucleoprotein structure of chromatin. This structure is essential for the proper storage, maintenance, regulation, and function of the genomes’ constituent genes and genomic sequences. Importantly, cells generate discrete types of chromatin that impart distinct properties on genomic loci; euchromatin is an open and active compartment of the genome, and heterochromatin is a restricted and inactive compartment. Heterochromatin serves many purposes in vivo, from heritably silencing key gene loci during embryonic development, to preventing aberrant DNA repeat recombination. Despite this generally repressive role, the DNA contained within heterochromatin must still be repaired and replicated, creating a need for regulated dynamic access into silent heterochromatin. In this work, we discover and characterize activities that the ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling enzyme SWI/SNF uses to disrupt repressive heterochromatin structure. First, we find two specific physical interactions between the SWI/SNF core subunit Swi2p and the heterochromatin structural protein Sir3p. We find that disrupting these physical interactions results in a SWI/SNF complex that can hydrolyze ATP and slide nucleosomes like normal, but is defective in its ability to evict Sir3p off of heterochromatin. In vivo, we find that this Sir3p eviction activity is required for proper DNA replication, and for establishment of silent chromatin, but not for SWI/SNF’s traditional roles in transcription. These data establish new roles for ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling in regulating heterochromatin. Second, we discover that SWI/SNF can disrupt heterochromatin structures that contain all three Sir proteins: Sir2p, Sir3p and Sir4p. This new disruption activity requires nucleosomal contacts that are essential for silent chromatin formation in vivo. We find that SWI/SNF evicts all three heterochromatin proteins off of chromatin. Surprisingly, we also find that the presence of Sir2p and Sir4p on chromatin stimulates SWI/SNF to evict histone proteins H2A and H2B from nucleosomes. Apart from discovering a new potential mechanism of heterochromatin dynamics, these data also establish a new paradigm of chromatin remodeling enzyme regulation by nonhistone proteins present on the substrate.

Eukaryotic DNA is packaged in chromatin, whose repeating subunit, the nucleosome, consists of an octamer of histone proteins wrapped by about 147bp of DNA. This packaging affects the accessibility of DNA and hence any process that occurs on DNA, such as replication, repair, and transcription. An early observation from genome-wide nucleosome mapping in yeast was that genes had a surprisingly characteristic structure, which has motivated studies to understand what determines this architecture. Both sequence and trans acting factors are known to influence chromatin packaging, but the relative contributions of cis and trans determinants of nucleosome positioning is debated. Here we present data using genetic approaches to examine the contributions of cis and trans acting factors on nucleosome positioning in budding yeast. We developed the use of yeast artificial chromosomes to exploit quantitative differences in the chromatin structures of different yeast species. This allows us to place approximately 150kb of sequence from any species into the S.cerevisiae cellular environment and compare the nucleosome positions on this same sequence in different environments to discover what features are variant and hence regulated by trans acting factors. This method allowed us to conclusively show that the great preponderance of nucleosomes are positioned by trans acting factors. We observe the maintenance of nucleosome depletion over some promoter sequences, but partial fill-in of NDRs in some of the YAC v promoters indicates that even this feature is regulated to varying extents by trans acting factors. We are able to extend our use of evolutionary divergence in order to search for specific trans regulators whose effects vary between the species. We find that a subset of transcription factors can compete with histones to help generate some NDRs, with clear effects documented in a cbf1 deletion mutant. In addition, we find that Chd1p acts as a potential “molecular ruler” involved in defining the nucleosome repeat length differences between S.cerevisiae and K.lactis. The mechanism of this measurement is unclear as the alteration in activity is partially attributable to the N-terminal portion of the protein, for which there is no structural data. Our observations of a specialized chromatin structure at de novo transcriptional units along with results from nucleosome mapping in the absence of active transcription indicate that transcription plays a role in engineering genic nucleosome architecture. This work strongly supports the role of trans acting factors in setting up a dynamic, regulated chromatin structure that allows for robustness and fine-tuning of gene expression.

Mängden solglasögon som produceras i dagens samhälle ökar för varje år, detta har genererat en hög materialåtgång. Denna studie grundar sig i design för hållbar utveckling och tillhörande designteorier inom cradle to cradle, design for disassembly och modulär design. Ytterligare teorier om hur identitet kopplat till materiella ting utreds. Syftet med studien är att försöka uppmana användare av solglasögon att agera mer hållbart. Genom dessa designteorier och tillhörande metoder har ett designexempel tagits fram. En pilotstudie användes för att undersöka respondenternas koppling till materialkännedom och identitet förknippat med solglasögon. Denna i form av en enkätundersökning. Enkäten utgör grunden i studien. Därefter tillämpades andra metoder för att kunna erbjuda ett designkoncept. Denna studies mål var att undersöka kopplingen mellan materialkonsumtion och identitet, gällande solglasögon och med det kunna uppmärksamma valet av solglasögon och även hjälpa användaren att agera ekologiskt hållbart. Studiens slutsats visar en produkt som kan hjälpa användaren på ett individuellt plan att agera mer hållbart. Produkten som tagits fram är ett exempel på ett av många olika designförslag att hjälpa användaren att agera mer hållbart. Denna produkt kan också både få och hjälpa användaren att uttrycka sin individuella identitet på olika plan. / The amount of sunglasses produced in today's society is increasing every year, this has generated high material consumption. This study is based on design for sustainable development and associated design theories in cradle to cradle, design for disassembly and modular design. Further theories on how identity is linked to material things are investigated. The purpose of the study is to try to encourage users of sunglasses to act more sustainably. Through these design theories and associated methods, a design example has been developed.A pilot study was used to investigate the respondents' connection to material awareness and identity associated with sunglasses. This in the form of a survey. The survey forms the basis of the study. Subsequently other methods were applied to be able to offer a design concept.The aim of this study was to investigate the connection between material consumption and identity regarding sunglasses and with it being able to pay attention to the choice of sunglasses and help the user to act ecologically sustainably.The study's conclusion shows a product that can help the user on an individual plan to act more sustainably. The product produced is an example of one of many different design proposals to help the user to act more sustainably. This product can also help the user to express their individual identity on different levels.