UPCYCLING SOFT PLASTICS

In 2022, the USEPA and Greenpeace USA updated their reports that concluded we only recycle six percent (6%) of all plastics we dispose of into our waste streams. Ninety-four percent (94%) of all plastic waste is going to landfills. The process of incineration and decomposition of the plastics emit carbon dioxide(Co2), methane, and benzene, all contribute to climate change. Over half the plastics sent to landfills are known as soft plastics, made of plastic bags, wrappers, and packaging materials. Recycling soft plastics have been unsuccessful due to a range of issues from the difficulty in identifying and sorting the material, to the lack of economic resale value of the material. 

                My research question of “ How might we upcycle soft plastics to serve a need? ”evolved from my experience as a product and furniture designer, guided by the belief that the materials we discard daily can be harvested as new material sources and create a circular loop solutions to serve needs. 

My path to answer this question was on two fronts; the first was a material exploration of soft plastics in applications to design opportunities to improve  businesses through upcycling soft plastics. The second was a process involving the Human-Centered Design, working with Bingo Markets, a Dallas vending company, to explore their desire to divert soft plastic wrapper waste packaging from the waste stream and to create an improved business solution for the material to be upcycled into a new forms the business can use. The outcome from my research was through a circular approach, designing ways businesses can upcycle the materials into new long term uses.