Transparent Trashpak
TRASHPAK
2026
Trashpak is a design project that challenges the way we think about plastic and disposability.
Video by : Manfredi Pantanella & Viviana Berti
Music by : Nicolo Bagarotto
Context:
Plastic is often treated as the problem. But the material itself is not necessarily the issue. It’s disposable use is. A trash bag may be used for only a few minutes, while the material it is made from can persist for decades.
Trashpak intervenes before that happens. Instead of recycling plastic after it becomes waste, the project takes new industrial trash bags and redirects them from their intended disposable life. Through a process of layering and heat pressing, the bags are transformed into a resistant sheet material and then constructed into functional backpacks.
I describe this approach as material hijacking: taking a material designed for minutes of use and changing its destiny into something made to last for years. The project is not about finding another use for waste. It questions why a durable material should become waste in the first place.
Music by : Nicolo Bagarotto
Context:
Plastic is often treated as the problem. But the material itself is not necessarily the issue. It’s disposable use is. A trash bag may be used for only a few minutes, while the material it is made from can persist for decades.
Trashpak intervenes before that happens. Instead of recycling plastic after it becomes waste, the project takes new industrial trash bags and redirects them from their intended disposable life. Through a process of layering and heat pressing, the bags are transformed into a resistant sheet material and then constructed into functional backpacks.
I describe this approach as material hijacking: taking a material designed for minutes of use and changing its destiny into something made to last for years. The project is not about finding another use for waste. It questions why a durable material should become waste in the first place.
In June 2026, Trashpak was launched on Kickstarter to bring the project from concept to production. The campaign successfully reached its funding goal, closing at 107% funded and marking the beginning of TRASHPAK’s first production run.
Video by : Manfredi Pantanella & Viviana Berti
Music by : Nicolo Bagarotto
Music by : Nicolo Bagarotto
Each TRASHPAK is handmade in Portugal in small batches by local makers.
The process starts with new industrial trash bags, which are layered and heat-pressed by hand to transform the thin plastic into a stronger, unique sheet material. The material is then individually cut, assembled and sewn into each backpack.
Because the process is manual, variations in texture, wrinkles and surface patterns naturally occur. Rather than imperfections, these differences become part of the identity of each piece — no two TRASHPAKs are exactly the same. Local, small-scale production allows the project to remain close to its original idea: transforming an ordinary disposable material through design, craft and time.
Contact for inquiries or collabs on this project :