Upcycling Discarded Plastic Bags 2, 2023-2025

HyunJoo Oh, Jinzhi Ye, Lisa Marks, Tingyu Cheng

Reimagining Upcycled Plastic Bags: Integrating Electronics Through Design for Disassembly, TEI 2026. PDF

Material waste is an ongoing global challenge, with conventional recycling often proving neither economically viable nor environmentally sustainable. This pictorial explores an alternative approach by upcycling discarded plastic bags into reusable and functional materials for creative making practices. We present a set of fabrication techniques for working with fused plastic sheets and integrating them with DIY electronics, designed with disassembly in mind to support continued reuse and recyclability. Our contributions include: (1) Fabrication techniques for embedding removable electronics into upcycled plastic while preserving material integrity; (2) Design applications—three interactive prototypes that demonstrate the potential of upcycled plastic in sustainable smart design prototyping; and (3) Design insights—reflections on end-of-life considerations and the value of intentional, process-driven creation. This work contributes to the discourse on sustainable making and unmaking by positioning disassembly and reuse as central components in interaction design.