Sustainability and Social Responsibility

Exploring the Possibilities for Reusing Plastic Bags as a Textile Material

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Abstract

The overconsumption of plastic in our society is causing problems related to environmental degradation, water pollution, and use of finite resources. This project aimed to create an outlet for plastic shopping bags for use as a sewable textile material. Currently, most of the research focuses on recycling plastic through mechanical breakdown into chips and melting the chips to reform a new product. In this project, we created a textile material through fusing plastic bags together. We determined the best way to fuse the bags, identified the best heat source, tested how the material will sew and how to add texture, color and print to the material. 

Keywords: Sustainability, waste, recycling, plastic

How to Cite:

Irick, E. M. & Ahmed, F., (2022) “Exploring the Possibilities for Reusing Plastic Bags as a Textile Material”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 79(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.8394